To Kill a Bull
by Discoabc
Summary: "At least the other clan kids of the series had something to protect themselves with practically from birth. Sakura was blessed with the oh so helpful gift of a larger than average forehead." The remedy is often worse than the disease it cures. I refused to be that remedy. OC-insert as Sakura Semi-AU
1. To kill a bull

_**Tsuno o tamete ushi o korosu**_

" _ **To kill a bull by straightening it's horns."**_

 _ **A Japanese proverb that refers to the idea of the action taken to solve a problem often being more damaging and unpleasant than the original problem itself. Eg. a remedy being worse than the disease.**_

* * *

Imagine that every person is a channel on the television that is existence. Okay, understandably, that sounds as strange as it can get, but bear with that weird thought for a few minutes.

Each channel is unique. They are almost always rudimentary at the beginning in ways that are similar to others. But, after that period of awkwardness, they're _ensured_ to grow in different manners and shoot off in widely separate directions. Some might become specialised channels, a news one perhaps or maybe one that shows nothing but nature documentaries. Others could go the opposite way and be filled with programmes so different from each other that it becomes a mess. There will be a few that reach fame and are immensely popular whilst a handful can only be understood by a very small albeit loyal niche crowd. All of them are constantly changing, _evolving_ with time.

But, eventually, the great television of existence, which is being watched by some higher entity to us or perhaps by no one, just accidentally kept on when someone left the house maybe, will lose the signal to a few channels. When flicked to by a remote, there will be no shows waiting there. No reality show dramas, no horrifying news, no cartoons, only white noise accompanied by a screen blaring static.

The channel, no matter how loved by the viewer, no matter how much effort went into production, is lost.

Now, imagine this one channel. One incredibly unimportant channel. It's been lost by the TV, absence hardly noticed amongst all the others disappearing and starting up. Supposedly it's meant to be lost forever, but imagine, somehow, its defunct signal is accidentally caught by a completely different television. It's not meant to be broadcast on it - different frequencies, you see. In fact, a completely different channel was meant to appear there, although now it will never make it.

This is how Sakura Haruno accidentally is born as the wrong person entirely.

(Except not at all because the constant creation and loss of channels would undoubtedly be a logistical nightmare for everyone involved.)

* * *

Sakura Haruno was born on the 28th of March to Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno in the image of perfect health. For the first two years or so of her life, she progressed at the same rate as the rest of her peers did. If one were to glance at her, nine out of ten times the sight that would meet you would be that of a normal child, babbling nonsense to herself whilst observing the world around her with an inquisitive eye. However, if your gaze managed to meet the girl at that inopportune tenth time, you might witness instead her garbling things that sounded almost like a defined but unknown language, or perhaps notice her curious eyes focusing on certain symbols and landmarks with just a tad too much intensity for that of a child.

She would be even more removed from the norm if anyone had happened to look into her mind and occasionally hear snippets of thoughts that ran along the lines of ' _what is inside my body'_ , _'this isn't even my body'_ and the ever popular _'what the fuck is that'._ These strange ideas however never lasted long. They drifted in and out of Sakura's barely developed mind, too complex for her brain to grasp a hold of yet and be fully understood.

It was only at the age of three, whilst drawing a picture of her family, that everything suddenly clicked into place and Sakura Haruno finally caught a firm grip on the thoughts that had previously flown out of her reach.

I realized, quite calmly, the obvious.

It wasn't so much a divine revelation as much as it was just a simple fact that finally allowed everything to make sense.

 _Oh. I am Sakura Haruno._

By the time I had placed my pencil gently down on the kitchen table, I had managed to comprehend what that epiphany actually meant for me.

 _...Shit._

* * *

I was not, as you might have gathered, pleased about my conclusion as to who and where I was. In fact, I doubted there were very many other places and identities I would've rejected more wholeheartedly than the place and identity I had come to inhabit.

The Naruto-universe was not a _kind_ place. Sure, as a reader/viewer, it was incredibly easy to forget that as you watched our bumbling, excited orange underdog of a main character reach for his dream, spreading word of peace and friendship as he went. Because even he, the supposed nicest, friendliest one of them all, had killed people and brushed it off with his signature grin.

This universe was _terrifying._ Children were trained from a very young age to be able to kill an enemy with the flick of a wrist. Major villages were in a constant state of what was pretty much martial law. You were practically guaranteed to see at least _one_ wide-scale war in your lifetime.

And I was Sakura Haruno.

A girl that started with arguably mediocre skills that was thrown right into the thick of everything that could possibly go wrong.

There were very few worse people I could be than her. The Haruno clan was hardly a family that could give me a biological edge over anyone in a fight or any powerful techniques that nobody else knew. At least the other clan kids of the series had something to protect themselves with practically from birth. Sakura was blessed with the oh so helpful gift of a larger than average _forehead._

If for some reason I'd been given a choice in the bizarre, seemingly impossible scenario, I would've rather picked Ino or, hell, even Hinata with all her awful family issues tacked on.

But no. I couldn't even have been granted that.

The unfairness of my situation, the unfairness of this _world_ , and the lack of anyone to blame for it caused a mixture of terror and resentment to smoulder inside of me.

Which was only made worse by the uncomfortable sensation of something foreign running around my body.

The small stature of this body and awkward chubbiness of a child did not bother me much at all. I supposed it was generally due to the fact that I didn't _remember_ now a lot of what it had been like in my body before, well, _Sakura._ I'd spent so long drifting in and out of consciousness, unable to sustain my adult mind with her small brain, that the somewhat stumpy fingers, short legs and painfully soft skin had slowly become what I considered mine.

However, what resided inside her body was so different to anything I'd experienced prior that I couldn't think of it as being a part of who I was. I could _feel_ my chakra flowing through me. So aware of it was I that it made me squirm in discomfort and cause my _new_ _parents_ to give me strange looks. Before I had grasped who I was, Sakura had never really felt it at all. To her, her chakra had been as unnoticeable as the blood pumping through her veins.

To me, it was a constant, upsetting reminder of who and where I was.

It took three days of anxiety and internal panic before I managed to calm down enough to think of what I was going to do now.

My initial thought was to just run. Where didn't matter, as long as it was far enough away to avoid the hell that was life in a ninja dependent world.

Reluctantly, I pushed it to the side. There was no way I could just _run_. For starters, I was a mere toddler who could barely keep up with an adult walking extremely slowly. Secondly, this was _Konoha._ Some concerned ninja would inevitably spot the bright pink haired child without a parent and pick me up, ruining any chance of escape. Anyway, I doubted I could survive on my own even with my adult intelligence. I still didn't have the basic knowledge of how the economy worked or the geography of the land.

On the other hand, there was no way I could just stay in Konoha for all the events of the canon. That was just asking to be killed during one of the many invasions that were to come.

The brief, quiet thought of doing exactly what the original Sakura had done and trying to help the world with the knowledge I had made me wonder for a split second whether I had gone completely mad.

 _No._ A million times _no_.

I was under no false pretence that I was in any way some sort of noble hero. That was Naruto's position and I'd gladly let him have it, no contest required. To put it simply, I did not want to sacrifice myself for the good of a world I was still having difficulty thinking of as not fictional.

Because why the hell would anyone even want to _try_ that? To purposefully have the responsibility of hundreds of thousands of lives weigh down on your back when it worked out fairly okay without your meddling involved? To purposefully step into the line of fire and spend the rest of your life dodging bullets?

Yes, I'd have to live with the guilt of not even attempting to save innocent lives. But at least I'd be _alive._

So there'd be no following in original Sakura's footsteps with noble intentions thank you very much.

I eventually came to a compromise between my desire to run as soon as possible and live as long as possible. As much as I disliked the prospect, I would have to go to the Academy to train as a ninja. In order to be in the safest position possible, I had to be able to squeeze out of situations that could be mildly dangerous and that warranted skills only ninjas could achieve. Even if that meant chancing interaction between myself and the rookie nine.

Once there, I'd make it my mission to be the most unremarkable, unnoticeable student to ever walk through the Academy's hallways. Not so good that teachers would take notice of it. Not so bad that I'd be seen as a slow learner. I had to be completely and utterly _average._

After years of that, I'd then graduate. Statistically, there wasn't too much of a chance I'd end up on Naruto and Sasuke's team. They had picked the squads based on the attributes of each person involved. I assumed Sakura had been chosen to be a member of team seven as she had been intelligent, which would not only average the team out further considering Naruto's 'dead-last' position but also work with her being the appointed strategist whilst the orange monstrosity and Sasuke acted on her orders with their raw power.

Since I would be going for average intelligence though, it would mess up the balance of the team. Another member of high stats in one field was needed so that Sasuke didn't just overrun the whole group and, without the original Sakura, it meant someone aside from me would have to fill that gap.

So, now hopefully in a team with no rookie nine members (although it was something manageable as long as Naruto wasn't involved), I'd progress as quickly as I dared to becoming a chūnin. Then, after being sure I had enough skill to properly defend myself, I'd retire young with some excuse as to wanting to take up some other career and leave Konoha ultimately after a few months or so. If that wasn't possible, I'd escape in an invasion/fight/etc. with the likely prospect of just written down as MIA, presumed dead.

In either case, as soon as I was out of Konoha, I'd run as far away as I could. Not that I expected anyone to come hauling me back as I'd be too _average_ for that. My presence would not be missed at all. People would forget I even existed soon enough.

Which was a plan that would only work without Naruto's involvement because he would _undoubtedly_ care enough to bring me back if I was his teammate. It was a trait that, whilst endearing for his character, would spell my imminent downfall. Anyway, even if for some insane reason he _didn't_ care, it wasn't as though a teammate of a jinchuuriki could just _leave_ when they asked to.

Avoiding being his teammate was easy enough though if it seemed like it was going in that direction. Just calling him a 'demon' a couple of times would ensure that Iruka would fight tooth and nail so that I wasn't put on his team. Sure, I'd feel bad about it for a while, but Naruto had handled enough prejudice to not be reduced to tears by my half-hearted words. Although calling him names was a last resort. The attention it would draw from people in a position of power above me, no matter how small, had the potential to ruin my perfectly constructed mask of average-ness.

That little idea from earlier that had suggested I follow a noble path piped up again to question whether Sakura's removal from team seven would change the ultimate outcome. The answer was a resounding yes, however, would it definitively result in the end of the world?

If Sakura didn't exist then somebody would be forced to take her place. Their skillset would develop differently, perhaps entirely so with the third teammate of team seven maybe never even becoming a medic-nin. The Sakura-shaped hole left by her absence would never be filled perfectly although this unknown person would fill gaps the canon Sakura had never managed to fill. Maybe they'd be a combat specialist from the start. Maybe a genjutsu specialist. Problems Sakura had had to solve might be avoided entirely because the situations would be different.

Hell, maybe that third teammate would be from a clan that actually had something to pass down to its members! The canon Sakura had been at a disadvantage from a start, probably having to work her ass off to keep up with kids born into power. If you just push a kid born with an advantage at the very start into her place facing similar situations to her own then they might develop into a great ninja too.

(And maybe they wouldn't. But damn it, I didn't ask for this, I didn't _want_ to help save the world. So they could go deal with it and save it without me because I wasn't coming.)

I then stopped thinking about it as my chakra's movement made me squirm again.

* * *

 **Extra (an idea I didn't know quite how to implant into the original story but perhaps will explain Sakura's reasoning more)**

For three years the adult mind that festers in her brain lies dormant. It is a short time really. Much of which is filled with what she will later describe as an acute unawareness when passing her fingers through the memories that are both her own and not at all. There is only a brief period in between the stretch of almost nothingness and mature, adult concepts where the child that is Sakura Haruno exists.

She does, naturally, little of merit in this time. She draws pictures. Her parents read her stories with exaggerated hand gestures. She plays dress up. She is like every other small child of her age save for those brief, confusing flashes of strange thoughts that are so out of reach of her young mind she dismisses them moments after having heard them.

It is a simpler time, one Sakura will view with bitter, twisted fondness when nothing is quite so straightforward to her anymore. Memories of which she will view through the eyes of a child that is not her.

It is therefore a direct consequence of the fact she sees the past through such eyes that she does not see the obvious. That three years is short and the time of the child's awareness is shorter still yet plenty enough for thoughts that her adult mind cannot deflect to become deeply embedded in her brain.

She does not think of how the pictures she often drew were of her being a super-powerful ninja in an obnoxious pink outfit that matches her hair. She does not think of the stories where the protagonists are usually ninja that win, always, always win. She does not think of chasing after her father with a blue piece of cloth tied around her forehead and declaring herself the hero ninja that has defeated the bad guy.

When her adult mind floods her brain, Sakura does not think she has absorbed any of the subtle manipulations of the world she lives in.

She is wrong.

So really, is it any wonder at all why in her horror and fear at the life she has found herself thrown into that she latches onto the idea of becoming a ninja even though it is such a terrible, awful plan?

Because, in the back of her mind, she will never be able to shake the thought found in her brief second childhood that contradicts so many other ideas of hers. That ninja are the heroes. That ninja always win.

* * *

 **Edit 4: Altered it because it read like this fic was veering off into the bashing sector in regards to Sakura (more on that further down A/N) and I did not like that AT ALL.**

 **Edit 3: So this is a warning more than anything else - you are pretty much guaranteed to more than once want to scream at Sakura's choices. I myself scream at Sakura's choices. She is a heavily flawed selfish individual with an intense cowardly disposition. Therefore, if you don't enjoy reading stuff from the perspective of someone you aren't going to particularly like (at least, not until she's gone through some character development) then it is rather likely you aren't going to have a fun time reading this fic. I mean, I'd love it if you kept with the fic regardless of that but I thought it might be best for people who know they aren't going to enjoy that sort of thing to know now rather than ten chapters in that this Sakura isn't the nicest of people out there haha**

 **Edit 2: Just wrote in that extra which will hopefully smooth out things more for people questioning why Sakura would want to become a ninja despite how awful an idea it is!**

 **Edit: That feeling when a guest reviews and you want to tell them information they didn't potentially know and you can't *clenches fist***

 **So here is the info in case anyone else didn't know it:**

 **Naruto has killed before. If you go strictly by the canon then he has landed the killing blow once to Yūra, Sasori's sleeper agent from Suna in Shippuden. Counting any filler/movies, he's landed the killing blow to even more. HOWEVER, as I would discount the latter, he has certainly contributed to the death of many, many others which in the court of law in our universe would amount to him being a murderer or at least an accessory to it. And, when talking abut the psychological aspects of that, Naruto really did just _shrug it off_ with a smile.**

 **Now onto my reasoning for other things: SAKURA IS WAY MORE IMPORTANT THAN OC!SAKURA IS SAYING SHE IS. A lot of people have been rightly telling me such. In no way am I saying this oc is right in any of her thoughts or making good decisions (I disagree with Oc!Sakura's decisions and ideas about eighty percent of the time). My intention is in no way whatsoever to make this a Sakura bashing fic - I honestly really like Sakura (catch me being salty about SPs and Kishi's treatment of her character 24/7).**

 **I also know there is some debate as to whether there is a Haruno clan to begin with but in this case we are going with it being a clan, albeit a very, very small and insignificant one.**

 **Also please don't pin high expectations on this fic because I will almost certainly fail them at some point ahaha (I say that jokingly but seriously, please don't be a dick if you want to criticize anything. I'm not asking to be coddled, just, I don't know, basic human decency?)**


	2. Far from the tree

_Kinomi wa moto e otsuru_

 _"A berry falls to (its tree's) roots."_

 _Children observe and copy what their parents do; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree._

* * *

There was something to be said about the sheer lack of child responsibility that all parents/carers in Konoha seemed to have. Initially, I had (rather surprisingly) assumed that Sakur- _my_ parents were simply bad with children and it was just a one-off thing. In fact, they were significantly better at the whole parenting gig than many others were, as I'd learnt after seeing a whole pack of three/four-year-olds running in the street outside my house with no visible accompaniment _whatsoever._

It made sense once I thought about it - the parents of my generation had lived a somewhat large chunk of their childhood during war time. Even those who had not been brought up in a ninja household had to deal with the parental figures in their lives being away for extended periods in order to help with the war effort. Those who were training to become ninjas were also expected to rise through the ranks quickly. Chūnin promotions were given out almost recklessly and you were given responsibility for lives at a very, very young age sometimes. And if you could be responsible for other people's lives then you could take care of yourself. Theoretically.

Consequently, those who had grown up in that time period now often accidentally left their children alone to a point that bordered on being dangerous because _they'd_ been left by themselves by their own parents. The amount of times Mebuki and Kizashi Haruno had just gone out of the house, without even thinking it might be a bad idea to leave their three-year-old daughter unsupervised, was somewhat horrifying to me as someone who had lived in a world where that sort of neglect could land you with a prison sentence.

This shared mindset by many parents did explain why so many kids ran around Konoha without anyone accompanying them though. Children, from ninja clans especially, usually just went out to play when left alone at home for whatever reason. Large groups would form of kids wanting to stave off their boredom or just have some company and huge games of ' _ninja'_ would take place across the whole village. In a way, it made the children safer. Out on the streets, there were various ninjas passing by you at any given point. If something ever went wrong then you'd receive help in a flash.

Mixed feelings about parents abandoning children aside, I was nothing short of _thrilled_ with the idea of being left to my own devices for large portions of time. As nice as they were, I didn't have too great of an attachment to my parents or at least not as strong a connection as one usually would have towards their mother and father. Whilst their relationship dynamic was amusing, I had difficulty harbouring feelings of deep affection for them, even with _Sakura's_ memories from her time as an infant. The fondness was there, for sure, but it was more like that towards an aunt and uncle. Our relationship wasn't helped by the fact they treated me like a child when my mental capabilities were far beyond that. As a result, I enjoyed being left alone more than I did with them.

Plus, not having them looking over my shoulder to see what I was doing meant I could learn the things I needed to without any sticky situations coming up.

The Haruno clan, although having extremely sparse members, had quite the impressive book collection. It was no wonder as to how the original Sakura had managed to wield such intelligence with this much information at her fingertips. Very quickly I found myself overwhelmed by the sheer amount of knowledge there that I wanted to absorb but found difficulty in doing so due to the language it was written in.

Speaking Japanese hadn't been so much of a hurdle due to my fairly absent consciousness from Sakura's early years. If I had been present for all that time with my adult mind then I doubted that I would have been able to learn the language as fast as I had. Children were just so much better at that sort of stuff after all.

Reading, however, was an issue. When I'd finally burst back into consciousness, Sakura had only just started to learn to read under her mother's tutelage. The Japanese writing systems were infamous for their difficulty to learn and I realized very quickly that this idea wasn't over exaggerated. I struggled stubbornly through paragraphs of text during the day when my parents were out and then heaved my way through the pages of books for children when they were around for me to ask for help.

Progress was infuriatingly slow. My parents found my almost obsessive focus on learning how to read amusing, which only served to make me even more irritated. What they saw as endearing, I saw as a major block in the roads of my plan. I'd start the academy in a little under two years so I needed as much information as possible before then. My days would there on out be taken up with classes and I'd be less free to do things as I wanted. Also, in order to be _average_ I needed to know the things we'd learn - or at least the basics - before our class did. If I didn't I'd be in danger of either going too fast or too slow, both drawing attention to me.

It was exhausting, spending hours trying to go through a single passage of a book everyday. Although, at the very least, it was better than joining the children playing outside. My parents thankfully didn't ever force me to join the other kids, even if Mebuki did sometimes voice some concern to her husband when I was meant to be asleep that I wasn't being social enough. Kizashi always replied that I'd be more interested in it when I started going to school. " _Anyway,_ " he said once, _"some kids just like being by themselves. It's not a bad thing at all."_

I wasn't quite like that, but his assessment of me was better than I thought it'd be. Really, I liked being social with some alone time mixed in every now and then. What I didn't like was some of the pointless conversations that children had with each other. I wanted talks with witty remarks woven into the chatter. I wanted to discuss mature topics sometimes. I wanted conversations with people on the same wavelength as me. I _didn't_ want to enter a debate with a child about meaningless things like 'which ninja move is the coolest' or 'ugh, you're a girl, you have _cooties'_.

The fact I wanted nothing to do with any of the rookie nine only caused the prospect of interaction with children to be even less appealing.

Within six months I managed to have the barest of reading basics down and could crawl my way through a book provided I had several others open to refer to as I read. If anyone were to walk in on such a sight I supposed it would be rather disconcerting: a young girl with a large book on military affairs laid out in front of her and various storybooks covering the floor that she was constantly flicking through. Luckily, that never happened.

Despite being trained as ninjas when younger, my parents weren't exactly the ' _sneaky'_ type. They entered the house noisily enough to always grant me enough time to clear away the books. That being said, they did retain some very ninja-like qualities even if they were technically retired from duty (my father to become a merchant and my mother to have me). Kizashi had a tendency to walk very, very softly even without the use of chakra, which was rather ruined by his loud voice and constant laughter. Mebuki would often hold things like one would a kunai or some sort of other weapon. Both had a habit of placing their hands near their left hip, something I had never paid attention to until realizing that was close to where their pouches would be slung.

These little reminders of the presence of ninja became increasingly concerning over those six months as I began to become more comfortable with the chakra flowing around my body - an earlier constant symbol of the dire world I inhabited. I was still hyper aware of it, however, I'd stopped squirming so much at the sensation. Even now it was a foreign entity, just a foreign entity that I'd become used to being around. Sometimes it went as far as being reassuring to feel it running through my body.

Since my chakra wasn't so overwhelming anymore, I begun to sense the chakra of others, most notably my parents. It was a slow process though. The first time I'd sensed either of their chakras, it had been when I'd been in physical contact with them. To be honest, I'd been surprised when I'd felt it. I'd describe it as being like a heartbeat, a steady pulse you could feel when you placed your fingers on their wrist. My father, who had naturally larger chakra reserves than my mother, had a noticeably more prominent rhythm, although initially I lost all sense of it when I wasn't in contact with him. After a while, I began to be able to sense my parents at further and further distances away, as though the pulses of their chakra were carried through the air to my ears.

I wondered briefly whether one would count chakra as a radiation of sorts, carried by waves through the surroundings. Could it technically then be diffracted or reflected? Reluctantly, I had abandoned my curiosity in favor of focusing on reading and learning more useful known things. Once I had run from Konoha I could busy myself with things like that.

* * *

I was teetering on the edge of my upcoming fourth birthday the first time I saw the titular character of the universe I'd fallen into.

I'd been sat in the window of my bedroom, book in my lap but my attention drifting to the view beyond the glass. Konoha was annoyingly beautiful in a way the appreciative, artistic side to me loved. If I'd been any good at art I might've spent the time I wasn't reading on painting the landscape of the village. In the distance there were sloping, stretches of trees that seemed to continue on forever whilst in the forefront there were interesting buildings that were a mix between modern and old architecture. Every now and then there'd even be a display of grace and skill by ninjas jumping from rooftop to rooftop, headbands glinting in the sun.

That day, as I'd stared at the world that lay outside my bedroom, I caught a glimpse of the usual sight of children running around outside, presumably playing 'ninja' with their cardboard weapons. If I hadn't indulged myself in that moment by allowing a few seconds to wonder whether the game had been made by adults to ease children into a life of fighting, my eyes wouldn't have followed the group and I would've totally missed the child running around in the middle, grin far too wide for his face. It took even longer for me to recognize who it was.

Naruto, I realized, was actually quite unnoticeable without his orange clothing.

He'd disappeared by the time I'd processed this all, although some effects of his presence remained on the street. A few adults had turned to each other in horror, one going as far to point accusingly in the direction he'd run off in, presumably saying that they should drag the demon away from those other _poor_ children. Those I could make out in recognizable ninja attire, however, did nothing more than glance at where Naruto had gone before continuing on their way, seemingly unaffected by the ordeal.

It made sense. Those who had been trained as ninja up to chūnin class would know that the young boy posed little threat and that the demon curled up in his stomach wasn't going to suddenly burst out just like that. Anyway, even if they did hold some grudge against him, they were smart enough to know that firstly, they would get into deep trouble if they did anything against him, and secondly, it wasn't worth their time. Beating up a child with your superior skill in every way was something I doubted to be that satisfying.

I was a little surprised by the sight of Naruto playing with people of his age though. Of course, if I logically thought it through then it was hardly shocking. Those who played on the streets during the daytime did so usually because their parents weren't around and the groups of children were often so large that they probably knew only a few of the other kids' names. It would take a while until any adults that feared Naruto's existence found out about their children playing with the 'demon-child' and forbade them from doing so.

 _No._

 _Stop thinking about Naruto before you start to regret the plan you decided on._

 _Pitying him will gain you nothing but trouble._

Jumping down from the window sill, I yanked on the cord to my blinds with more force than necessary, blocking my view to the village a young child was running around happily with other children who couldn't care less what resided inside him.

* * *

It was over dinner one night that my parents first tentatively approached the topic of which school I was to attend: civilian or ninja. I wasn't quite sure why I hadn't expected such a thing to be discussed, perhaps because I'd assumed it was an unspoken rule that I'd attend the academy as they had done themselves at my age?

Then again, despite the mindset of their generation that had been brought up with war surrounding them, I could see the changes being introduced to combat that. Adults were being made to accept the fact that their children might not want to be ninjas and weren't allowed to be forced to become one either, like many of them had years earlier. The accelerated path prodigy ninjas used to fly down was being slowly closed off in an attempt to create a new breed of youth who weren't going to be traumatised by war at an early age. We were the generation that would have all the happiness our predecessors couldn't have.

(In a way that kind of made it worse as we were now going to get pressure to be _happy_ because our lives were so much better than their's. I knew from experience that a mindset like that was toxic, one which dismissed those who were upset as ' _back in my day, it was much worse, you have it so good you know'._ )

"What do you learn in the other school if not to become a ninja?" I asked my parents in response to their own inquiry, honestly curious as to what the answer was. My original assumption had been that they'd learn what I'd learnt in my first run of school - mathematics, literature, science, etc. - but then I'd realized it couldn't be that simple. You couldn't exactly have civilians being smarter than ninjas after all as, if they were, then they'd inevitably at one point get overthrown.

There was a reason as to why my previous world had been filled with countries run by democratically elected leaders and weren't just in constant states of martial law with military dictators like the Kages (or something similar to that). People had learnt they'd deserved better than just obeying the person in charge they hadn't even agreed to be in power. People wanted their say in things, people questioned authority, people didn't like being controlled by fear and power.

And people invented weapons to combat the power those controlling them had - because really, considering the point the Naruto universe was in technology wise, guns and weapons of mass destruction that might be able to effectively push back jutsu should've been invented and known to the general populace but they _weren't._ Were the civilians learning the same things I had in my first run of school, then it wouldn't matter if ninja were hiding such inventions because 'multiple discovery' (the discovery/invention of things done separately but almost simultaneously) was a _real_ concept and there were so many civilians in this world that enough people would've discovered the wonders of firearms that it just couldn't be covered up any longer. If they weren't learning the same things though then that might not be as great an issue.

Arguably, the civilians in Konoha did have some control with their own council that could bring up their own concerns to the Hokage and often get their requests granted. But politics was never quite so simple and transparent. Make no mistake, the ninjas overall had complete control and the civilians just followed them obediently in a way I couldn't see happening without some foul play involved.

Kizashi and Mebuki seemed a little surprised by my question, eyes darting towards each other in a secret, silent exchange of words that only those very close to each other could do. "Well, you learn how to do other useful things," Kizashi began uncertainly, making me think that he had never even thought to wonder about such a thing.

"How to be a merchant for example, like your dad!" Mebuki seemed equally clueless although she covered it up with a confident, loud voice.

I quickly decided that it was useless to probe further for information they didn't have. I wasn't intending to go down that route anyway and my curiosity could easily be shoved aside. Maybe one day I'd find out what they did there and probably be disappointed by the normality of it. It was usually the case of the question being more interesting than the answer.

"I want to go to the academy," I told them with all the finality a four and a half-year-old could muster. Which wasn't very much.

My decision was met with pleased smiles and unsurprised gazes. Even if they were being slowly forced into accepting this new time of peace and gentleness with the younger generation, I doubted the expectation first drilled into them by their parents and now into me would ever be shifted. The ninja lifestyle was most definitely considered a family occupation. Even if a kekkei genkai wasn't inherited down the line, even if no real important techniques were passed from relative to relative, if your parents were ninja, you became a ninja. It didn't matter that my dad and mum had retired from the profession now, I at least had to have a crack at it.

To continue on the name of a clan that really, really didn't matter.

The world was unfair, but, then again, I'd known that from the start.

* * *

 **Thank you for the positive feedback last chapter, I really appreciate it!**

 **Edit: ugggghh gonna probably change that 'multiple discovery' bit several times because I don't think I'm explaining Sakura's reasoning that good (I tried okay guys I trieeeed)**

 **Question for reviewers: if you found yourself reborn into Konoha, would you choose to be a ninja?**

 **I would probably be very tempted to become one (because ninja super powers) but go down the civilian route instead in the end.**


	3. First come

_Hayai mono gachi_

 _"The early one wins."_

 _Those who arrive first are more likely to get what they want from a limited supply of stuff - first come first serve._

* * *

I first started experimenting with my chakra around my fifth birthday. Initially, I had intended to begin using it earlier than that, however, after reading a few books or so on the basics of it and how the chakra pathway system developed, I'd hastily taken back my decision. Before the age of five, and even in some cases beyond, your chakra reserves were usually quite small. As a result, chakra exhaustion was an extreme and likely danger if one were to attempt any use of it before that point.

Naturally, there were those who ignored that, like Kakashi, Itachi and all others hailed as prodigies, but they usually came from families with great skill and were thusly supervised carefully. My parents were however not nearly as skilled and I'd feared exhausting myself with no one around to even notice I was on the edge of certain death.

One of the first things I'd attempted to do was stick my hand onto my bedroom wall. I left my window open and ensured I was in full view of the street below as a precaution in case things did somehow go horribly wrong. A passing ninja would eventually sense my chakra dispersing too quickly and save me from my imminent demise - well, that was at least the idea behind my actions.

It took a few deep breaths and whispered, motivating chants to finally try it. Eyes squeezed shut, I concentrated the flow of my chakra towards my right hand that was pressed gently against the wall. The sensation made me take a choking, gasp of a breath, it feeling as though not only was energy flowing inside my arm but a liquid was gliding across my skin, pooling in the palm of my hand. Panic then set in as I impulsively decided to wrench my hand away to find it wouldn't separate entirely. I pulled harder, leaning backwards so my whole body weight was helping in my desperate attempt to get away.

Realistically, it took less than five seconds for my hand to be released from the wall, although the anxiety made it feel ten times as long, and I toppled over, landing on my bedroom floor with a loud thud. I lay there for a few minutes, mind still reeling from the ordeal I hadn't expected to occur. My chakra had already either been dispersed or had sunk back into my skin, waiting to be called upon once more.

Later I would realize that my sudden panic was what had caused the situation. I had been trying to remove my hand whilst subconsciously pouring more chakra into it as a reaction to my sudden spike in fear. It was a defense mechanism, much like the fight or flight instinct engraved into our bodies. The more you panicked, the more chakra you emitted in order to protect yourself. If you were surrounded by enemies then that was arguably a good reaction. It wasn't when the 'enemy' was your bedroom wall.

At the time though, as I'd stared at the peeled off paint attached to my palm, I had never feared my own chakra so much.

* * *

The first day of the new year at the academy ended up being much larger an event than I'd anticipated.

The reason for this was simple: the year of the rookie nine was positively packed with clan children and, even more, a few _heirs_! Usually, there were only a handful of children heralding from any clans, although often they were clans with the same importance of the Haruno clan. Which was very little. Any that were from one which demanded some attention weren't normally that closely related to the heads of their families, so the scrutiny would die down after a few weeks.

This year though, we had a Uchiha (brother to a prodigy no less), a Hyūga, a Nara, an Inuzuka, a Yamanaka, an Aburame and an Akimichi. If you counted Naruto too, you had one of the sole Uzumaki clan members left in existence.

The anger at the _demon child_ being allowed to attend the academy was consequently overcast by the various celebrations going on because of the many clan members starting school at the same time. I couldn't help but question the coincidence of this happening - the probability of Naruto being the same age as so many other important children was so slim that the chances of this being anything other than planned were minuscule!

I was forced to push such thoughts away as I was herded into the group of soon to be classmates, adults surrounding us all. Seeing the list of names that had been plastered to the side of a wall to check everyone was there, I noticed that someone had been kind enough to put me down as a clan kid, even if the Harunos had never had that much power. Personally, I liked the idea of it having been Iruka. I'd always had a good opinion of the man, someone who should've despised Naruto with ever fibre of his being but had seen, unlike others, that the blond was just an orphaned, sad child like he had been.

A moment later and the somewhat large crowd of children, including myself, were led in an undignified mess towards the top of the building. There we were sat in lines with parents huddled behind us, whispering getting louder as a new figure entered their vision. The man, dressed entirely in his formal attire, walked with deceptive slowness towards the front of the mostly restless children.

It became easy then for me to pick out the majority of the rookie nine. Towards the front, sat within a sea of staring kids, was Sasuke Uchiha. His somewhat relaxed pose snapped rather hastily to that more befitting of the son of a clan head, back straight and large eyes following the man's footsteps with concentration strange for a child. Shikamaru Nara and Chōji Akimichi were in the row in front of mine. The latter, who had been quite happily munching on a snack of sorts, began to chew more slowly and quietly whilst the Nara, still sat sloppily, watched the man attentively.

Hinata Hyūga sat in my line, large, terrified eyes darting repeatedly towards him and the ground. Ino Yamanaka was a little harder to pick out, the girl sitting slap-bang in the middle of us all and having dialled down her chatter dramatically. Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka were equally easy to spot, one because he had a dog on his head and the other because everyone sat around him was inching away slowly with wide eyes.

Naruto, as surprisingly as before, was difficult to find. He still wasn't wearing his characteristic orange yet and wasn't shouting about his dream to become Hokage either, which were my two points of reference for spotting him.

I turned my attention back to the robed man when he had finally reached the front, tipping his hat back and revealing eyes that were crinkled from his smile. To be fair, I didn't think he was trying to scare any of us and I doubted anyone aside from me felt such fear at the sight of an old man, but my throat tightened none the less. Not even his following speech about the Will of Fire and our great importance in this world made me feel any less repulsed.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was not a nice man. Nicer than others by quite a way, perhaps, but not the grandfatherly figure many people in the village revered him as.

Nice men don't get titles like 'God of Shinobi'. They don't win wars either.

He was attempting to change, I could see that through his preachings of peace and kinder treatment of young children who a few years earlier would have been expected to kill at least a dozen men by the age of thirteen. My peers would no doubt view him as a benevolent, caring leader. That was only his new face though and I knew of his older faces, hardened from war and unflinching as men died before his feet.

I felt a little pathetic at the relief that washed over me when the third Hokage finished his speech and I clapped half-heartedly as he strode away, followed by all of the parents who yelled goodbyes to their children. Mebuki all but _hollered_ a 'see you later' towards me, Kizashi filled with amusement as he waved instead. I felt almost fond of the subsequent embarrassment, as though in that moment I could see them as my real parents.

Then, a younger but recognizable Iruka stepped into the foreground and read out our class lists. Unfortunately, although expectedly, I ended up in the class with the entirety of the rookie nine. There were only around three classes after all, so I'd somewhat anticipated such a fate. I subsequently realized that fate had nothing to do with it when I gave a moment's thought to it. All of the very important clan members had ended up in the same class alongside a few minor ones who arguably included me. Naruto had been thrown in with us too. A few glances at those who hadn't made it into our class and the reason behind it all was obvious.

We were the class expected to reach graduation.

Major clan kids were practically guaranteed a pass at the final exam to becoming a genin. Those with ninja parents/from minor clans probably generally passed in their entirety too. Naruto was supposed to become the hero of our generation so he would (albeit eventually) reach the genin rank for definite.

So, rather than mix kids around all the time because of people dropping out or people failing the graduation exam, it was easier to put all those statistically likely to reach the end of the academy into one class to begin with and switch a few as time progressed.

It had to be a bit depressing teaching the other two classes that had been labelled as those less likely to graduate from the very start. Even more so for any parents who realized what their child's class meant for their chances of becoming a ninja.

Putting the thoughts out of my mind ( _come on, that isn't important, you need to focus)_ , I followed after my new class, hoping this wasn't the start to a very bad ending.

* * *

I decided within ten minutes of class that I hated almost all of my peers.

Kiba was intensely annoying in a way that had surpassed all previous classmates that had gotten on my nerves. He constantly talked over everyone else, broke rules Iruka had _just told us existed_ in a sort of 'ha, I'm better than that and all of you' manner, and had already made a good portion of the girls in our class cry already by making stupid insensitive comments. What's worse was that Akamaru was _adorable_ and it felt unfair that such an irritating child would be blessed with such a puppy.

Sasuke, the person I had expected not to hate until the massacre, was also incredibly dislikable. He was _arrogant_ , even more so than Kiba! I understood why. He was treated as the bottom of the hierarchy of his family at home. So, naturally, the boy would then feel above most of us when he'd probably learnt most of the basics we were waiting to be taught already. The thing was, I didn't really care for the reason as to his arrogance, more that it just _existed._

God, he looked at our entire class like we were beneath him with smugness that a naive child shouldn't have. And all the girls lapped it up with large, curious eyes and desire to get to know him better because they'd never seen anyone as pretty or that acted like him.

Perhaps I was exaggerating how arrogant he really was or reading into his expressions incorrectly because I hadn't been that fond of his canon-counterpart. That didn't stop me from disliking him for it though with pettiness I didn't know I had.

Continuing on, Chōji chewed. Loudly. How Shikamaru managed to sleep through the noise was something beyond my comprehension.

The rest of the rookie nine were bearable. This small group surprisingly included Naruto who had yet to start being the boisterous class clown I thought of him as. He was being chatty but wary, as if testing the waters that were our classmates and whether they would reject him or not. As soon as they did I suspected he'd vie for their attention through more silly means.

That was when I'd join his name to the growing list of disliked classmates.

A few other children I didn't know the names of had avoided immediate hatred from me too, although the majority of the class tried my patience by simply acting their age. I'd never been that fond of kids. Even in my past existence, I had spent a lot of my life preferring the company of those older rather than those younger.

I suffered the rest of class in silently unamused fashion, taking great joy in the hour break halfway through the day for lunch. The opinions of mere children didn't bother me so I hardly felt uncomfortable sitting alone in one part of the academy grounds whilst the rest sat in groups. As someone who had felt nervous at the prospect of being a loner in school the first time through it, it did feel somewhat liberating to not care what those my age thought of me.

The rest of the lessons after that were generally as uninteresting as the earlier ones. All we were learning, for now, were the rules, the classes we were to take, the stationary and equipment we were expected to bring to school, and an extremely basic outline of our lives up till we made genin. The one thing that _wasn't_ so boring to me was the instructions we were meant to follow if something 'bad' happened.

Our first course of action was to find a teacher/someone of preferably chūnin rank (although a genin would have to do if there was no one else). If that wasn't possible, we were to hide in small, difficult to access places, Iruka informed us as though what he'd just said wasn't mildly horrifying. None of my classmates seemed the slightest bit disturbed by the information, instead immediately chattering about where the best places were to conceal themselves. I doubted there being many good places to hide away from an enemy ninja. Even if we could squeeze into tight places as children and they could not physically follow, a kunai or sword could slip through easily after us.

Despite the inherent hopelessness of it all, I chose a spot just in case. A wooden panel in one of the walls looked easily removable even with small, pudgy fingers. It beat my classmates suggestions of hiding in the cabinets and under their desks at the very least.

* * *

The specific kunoichi classes didn't start until the next day. Kiba had jeered mockingly as all the girls attending the class were rounded up, telling us to have fun arranging flowers and doing other stupid girly things. One girl, who I thought most likely to be Ino, kicked a rock towards him, making the boy scamper off with Akamaru barking as he followed. Most of the class burst out into peals of giggles and I couldn't stop the vindictive smile from slipping onto my lips.

Our teacher, Suzume, led us to a large, open field and instructed us to pick out flowers that we thought represented the message of friendship, arranged in a pleasing fashion. It was a very casual test to determine those who knew the art of _ikebana_ , the arrangement of flowers, and/or those who knew the art of _hanakotoba,_ the meaning of flowers. She'd presumably plan lessons accordingly so that those who had no clue could learn and those who did wouldn't be bored.

I knew little about both arts, although luck would have it that what little I knew of the meaning of flowers would come in useful this time. Unfortunately, as I set about with the other girls to find the necessary flowers, I began to doubt my memory, hesitating before I picked anything.

 _Was it jasmine that meant friendly or magnolia? Do I even know enough about either of them to recognize them?_

"Hey!" A confident, girlish voice sounded behind me and I turned to see a purple haired girl that I was fairly certain was in the same class as me. She was accompanied by two other girls, one with spiky red hair and one with her hair in the style of an afro.

"Yes?" I must have sounded somewhat unimpressed because the girl who had spoken earlier scowled and crossed her arms, as though I'd delivered the highest of insults.

"You're weird." She declared loudly. "And you've got a big forehead!"

I blinked, slowly. _Sakura's childhood bullies? What were they called again, Yumi? Umi?_ "...Yes, I know." I replied flatly after having given up on recalling her name.

The girl stared at me, clearly not having expected such a response. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ino watching the exchange with a deep, concerned frown. _Oh no, please don't get involved, I firstly don't want to have a reason to be friendly with you and secondly would feel a little mortified at the idea of being saved by a kid._ "W-well, I think it makes you look ugly! Big forehead! Billboard brow!" Sakura's tormentor jabbed a finger towards me, her friends giggling and repeating the insulting nicknames as if it were the height of humour.

"Okay." My unfazed expression made the laughter and chanting stop, their ringleader growing quite red in the face. Children usually didn't know how to cope with such a response to their teasing. Anger and tears were what they expected to come so, when that wasn't the response they got, it threw them for a loop. I would've continued with such an uncaring attitude until they left me alone but I saw instead Ino edging nearer, obviously feeling it necessary to step in any second now. "I think your purple hair is really pretty."

 _Ami_ , I finally remembered, stopped turning red in frustration and instead became flushed for a different reason, rather flustered. "Ah, um, then… then your pink hair is nice too!" She finished loudly, her friends glancing first at each other and then her in apparent confusion.

"Thank you." My eyes darted over to Ino. She'd stopped in her tracks, first blinking before shrugging at how the situation had been defused without her help. I breathed out a quiet sigh of relief as she strolled away, a little surprised when I'd turned back to see Ami and her croons still there. "What is it?"

She fumbled with her words, gaze darting everywhere except for me until finally focusing on the flowers I'd been idly looking at earlier, pointing accusingly at them. "Those are orange lilies and mean hatred so don't pick them!" Ami blurted out, even redder in the face. "I..err...we're leaving!"

I was mildly amused by how the purple haired girl's brain had seemed to malfunction at my abnormal behaviour, giving an amiable wave as Ami marched off with her two friends in tow. There was some kind of satisfaction that came with confusing children who had chipped away at my patience all day. Perhaps that would be a way to keep my sanity through the years I was to be confined to the academy.

Glancing over my shoulder at the orange lilies Ami had helpfully warded me off including in my flower arrangement, I sighed again. _Well, time to find less offensive plants to offer to my teacher…_

* * *

The next day as I was walking to my seat at the back of the classroom, I was halted by a yank on my wrist. Turning, I found it was Ami who had stopped me, leaning across an empty seat in order to do so. "You can sit with us," she stated, embarrassment from yesterday still clinging to her.

I resisted the urge to curse aloud at it being just my luck to accidentally get the original Sakura's tormentor to want to become friends with me.

* * *

 **I have about five more complete chapters to upload and then updates will be going considerably slower whoops**

 **Review Question (I think this might become a thing?):**

 **Who out of the rookie nine would you try to befriend as a child and why? And who would you avoid like the plague if anyone?**

 **I'd want to befriend Hinata because she is a sweet, sweet angel (also least likely to pull me into some bullshit) and Shikamaru because you want the smart kid on your good side possibly for later help. Oh and maybe a casual acquaintance with Ino too since she gives off the 'social queen' vibe and you want the connections she has.**

 **I'd probably avoid Naruto and Kiba as the resident troublemakers and Sasuke because he needs to learn some chill at least from after the massacre :/**


	4. March winds and April showers

_K_ _u areba raku ari_

 _"There are hardships and there are delights."_

 _After rain comes fair weather; March rain and April showers bring forth May flowers._

* * *

My fears of my time at the academy being mind-numbingly boring (or at least initially so) turned out to be completely unnecessary, debunked not even a day after the fairly dull introduction to it.

To be fair, however, I didn't find my classes interesting because Iruka was a good teacher (really, he was passable at best), nor did I found much of the content mind blowing, but the implications of what we were being taught _fascinated_ me.

For example, we had the ninja rules firmly _shoved_ down our throats before anyone even checked if we knew how to write our own names. Everyday we were reminded of their existence, often being quizzed on them. I had made a decision to never do better than average on any test but I was forced to quickly realize that the average for these constant quizzes was nothing less than one hundred percent. Even Naruto could recite them all (albeit with poor wording) after the first few weeks and his ability to retain information was _terrible._

The speed at which we were indoctrinated into the system was almost terrifying. Our pride in our village was also inflated quickly through very biased tales of ninja heroes alongside much repetition of the importance of the Will of Fire. The love for Konoha was drilled into us so deeply that eventually, it became easy to think you'd always thought so highly of your home and were more than prepared to protect it with a patriotic zeal!

As someone who rebuked any attempt at this child-friendly brainwashing, it was morbidly fascinating to watch as my classmates, who previously hadn't cared that much for Konoha as a whole, began to mention their love for our village more frequently.

After knowledge of the ninja code and loyalty to the village was firmly instilled in our hearts and minds, the slow, rolling introduction of strategies emerged. Often they started as games taught to us in PE lessons or between lessons.

A version of capture the flag was one. Hide and seek was another, although that had teams, spies, messages and all other kinds of things involved too. There were relay races where sabotage was a welcome addition as long as no one got hurt - we weren't to start any sort of full contact sparring or learn any fighting techniques until next year when our stamina had been appropriately improved and skin toughened.

The strategies we'd be spotted implementing, even without realizing it, would then be expanded upon in class, whether that be through class discussion or the basic mathematics behind each action we wanted to take. Fractions and probability were taught at a far earlier stage than they had been in my previous experience of school. Arguably too soon, having to skip over other foundations of maths that I deemed of great importance.

Then again, we didn't do much maths, not even for a young child. Lots of subjects I saw as the fundamentals were put as a lesser priority to more ninja concentrated lessons and what of these basic topics we did learn were often put in the context of our future careers. We were prospective ninjas first and kids in need of an education second.

Considering the number of children who dropped out of the academy before even graduating, I couldn't help but wonder how they functioned in civilian life. Were there even schemes in place for that? War had increased the demand for ninjas and so in the past people were very reluctant to let kids drop out. Then again, my father had been brought up as a ninja and had managed to fit into the role of a merchant quite well - although, merchants were often more involved in ninja matters than one might think.

All these implications and hidden consequences kept my brain whirring even in the most simple of subjects. It actually helped a lot in maintaining my 'average' image as I was prone to lose track of what our teacher was telling us and have an honest response of 'I don't know' if questioned on something they'd said.

My accidental creation of some sort of pseudo-friendship between Ami and myself also stopped things from being boring, and surprisingly not in that negative manner.

I had a rather...distant relationship with the purple haired girl. I'd stuck by my dislike of childish conversations and so didn't contribute to the chatter that she had with her other friends. Ami was rather a boastful thing, however, so she looked somewhat favourably on my lack of interest in interrupting her when she spoke. Every now and then though she would mention something mildly intriguing and it was easy to make her talk more about it by just saying a few things.

Another positive aspect to the 'friendship' was that I always had a group to join whenever it was necessary. I hadn't minded the prospect of being one of the loners who would be pushed into a group that didn't like them much by a teacher. I certainly wouldn't be the only one with the somewhat anti-social Shino and the painfully shy Hinata (Naruto forced himself quite well into groups). There was an irrational sense of safety and relaxation though by having a group that would always let you in.

A group that happened to acquire conveniently average grades.

Ami was also used as subtle evidence for me being normal. _See, I can be social, I can make friends, I am a completely average child with no outstanding features whatsoever! No need to pay any attention to Sakura Haruno at all._ That coupled with the more prominent problems of other children meant that I passed under the radar with ease. I'd felt almost giddy when I first realized my plan to be unnoticeable was working.

The final thing about Ami that worked in my favour was that the rookie nine weren't exactly fond of her. I didn't ever pretend that she was anything less than a bully, a particularly cruel one at that. She picked on those she thought to be lesser than her: the misfits, the quiet ones. She'd used such criteria in order to first speak with me, seeing that I hadn't made any friends and assuming wrongly that it was due to lack of self confidence. To an adult her insults were ridiculous ( _I mean, Billboard Brow? Really?)_ , but to a child they were soul crushing. More than once I'd seen her send crying children away, giggling loudly about how much of a loser they were.

It wasn't that she was inherently a bad person. Ami did it for attention and out of lack of self-esteem herself. That was painfully obvious when one considered we were friends because I'd complimented her hair. She was just a child who didn't know any better and was hardly encouraged to stop doing so.

Iruka was the only teacher who ever lectured children for being mean or bullying. Everyone else took the stance that if you couldn't handle a few childish insults then you could hardly manage as a ninja later on. I disagreed entirely with this sentiment, very much hypocritically since I rarely attempted to discourage Ami's bullying.

Instead, I selfishly put my goal of getting out of Konoha eventually of higher importance than the happiness of a few children's' childhoods.

There was though those few instances when I did do something. The first came within the second week at the academy.

In our class, there weren't many people Ami consistently bullied. We were the class most likely to graduate after all so the majority had inherited thick skin from their ninja parents/clans. There was one obvious target however that Ami hadn't considered in that first week. Even if she was a child, she knew the importance of clan heirs and that messing with them was a bad, bad idea. But by the second week, it was obvious that their status as a clan heir meant nothing in relation to their strength.

I'd walked in that day to find a crowd around one of the desks at the front of the classroom. Iruka hadn't arrived yet and usually that meant pockets of people all around the room, most complaining about the early start, so I'd been appropriately surprised by the sight. I didn't notice until later that Ino wasn't there, explaining why the situation had escalated to the point it did.

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Kiba chanted from on top of a desk, pumping his fist up in the air and grinning wildly. Other boys were starting to join him much to the exasperation of Shikamaru who happened to be sat behind the desk they were using as a platform.

The girls seemed to be more concerned, whispering amongst themselves but not loudly enough for me to understand what was happening. Ami's voice, however, could be picked out as being in the middle of the crowd and, curiosity alongside confusion getting the better of me, I forced my way towards her. I emerged into a small space between the onlookers and the two at the heart of the situation.

There stood Ami, one hand slammed onto the desk that Hinata was sat at, pale eyes wide with terror and panic.

 _Oh god._

Anyone other than Hinata and I would've turned around right then, allowing Ami to do her worst. But Hinata, poor, poor Hinata, was someone I couldn't do that to. Life had not dealt her a good hand. At home she was considered a failure, a weakling who couldn't do anything right. And yet she'd turned out as sweet as she was shy, accepting of all those around her, even the most ostracized. I felt often a painful kind of second hand anxiety for the girl during class if I ever paid her any attention. The idea that her time at school could be as bad as her time at home just made my iron stomach _turn._

So, against all my better judgement, I moved forwards and yanked Ami's hand that allowed her to encroach on Hinata's personal space away. " _Shut up and leave her alone."_

' _Beware the fury of a patient man'_ was a quote that came to mind when I saw Ami's reaction. To her, I was a very patient person. I let her speak as much as she wanted, I never argued with her fiercely about anything, I endured her bullying of other children without a word. In reality, I was less patient, more desperate and entirely selfish. She didn't know that though.

All Ami saw was her quiet, patient friend that had just hissed something with viciousness she'd never heard from anyone before.

She went very pale, eyes going wide and then watery, beginning to cry. Tugging free from my grip, Ami raced away, her entourage of minions following after her. The girl would be fine an hour or so later, placated by a white lie that I'd been sorry to make her cry. I felt vindicated watching her run away though, having done something based on pure emotion rather than logic for the first time in a while. Even the roar of applause coming from the boys on their desks made the rush of petty glee stronger - although Kiba was soon loudly complaining that he'd wanted to see a fight.

Hinata didn't end up saying anything at all to me. Her eyes were still watery from what Ami had said to her ( _loner, loser, weirdo, abandoned, stupid, ugly)_ and I had no doubt that her throat had closed up in reaction to the humiliation. She did try to find her voice, to say something back to the girl who had torn her tormentor away, but I spared her the effort, leaving for my seat.

After that incident, Ami never targeted her again.

I did notice however a shift in the attitudes of my peers towards me. Apparently, I'd been labelled as one of Ami's minions, following her every whim without complaint. My loud disapproval of one of her actions now set me in a different category where I was my own person. I was an equal to the girl, not a follower. It gained me a quiet respect that I hadn't expected, one which didn't break my mask of normality but just gave it a different design to Ami's other _friends._

The class soon forgot about the whole thing though when we started our proper PE lessons and Sasuke was elevated to the status of an _idol._

Those PE classes in the first few weeks at the academy had mainly been spent doing bonding and strategy exercises through games. These continued throughout the year and beyond, of course, just not as frequently when we started doing such lessons seriously.

And by god did I mean _seriously._

I had never done so much strenuous exercise in either of my lives. The very first lesson consisted of us running as far as we could before our legs gave out on us. The next we did all sorts of jumping exercises to see how far we could jump, how long we could jump and from what distance we would jump (the last being terrifying beyond belief). After that, we threw javelins, metal balls and other heavy/difficult to throw equipment.

According to Ami, five people from the two other classes dropped out as a direct result of this physical torture. So, naturally, Sasuke would be excelling at it all with his signature, smug smirk.

I think that the excitement and attention surrounding the Uchiha boy was also what turned Naruto from a mild irritation to a monster I wanted to wring the neck of. He started being louder, more obnoxious and brattish. Him and Kiba became an infuriating duo of annoyance, yelling stupid insults at Sasuke that in turn incurred the wrath of his ever growing fan club. They started challenging the smug little _twat_ to various things, whether it be races, how many push ups they could do, how far they could throw things, _how much could they push me before I snapped and ended it all out of pure anger._

Sasuke usually won, of course. If he hadn't been so proud then he might've saved us all the torment of Naruto and Kiba's repeated challenges by just letting them win once, but, then again, their boasting might have been equally irritating.

Their frustrating nature aside, PE lessons quickly became the downside to my days. At first, I found myself easily within the upper half of physical capability in my class. I had a tenacity that many of those my age didn't have and could, therefore, push myself further before giving up. Before I could even begin to purposefully regulate myself down to average, however, I found that everyone aside from me had shifted upwards in physical prowess and had fallen without any effort to that average.

The teachers at the academy had turned out to be annoyingly talented at getting their pupils to enhance their limbs with chakra as much as possible.

By getting us to push ourselves to the limit of what we were capable of (and beyond in some cases), the muscles of my classmates that had previously been infused with the barest amount of chakra now had much more being pumped into them. I however couldn't do such a thing unconsciously because I was far too aware of my own chakra. Consequently, in order to keep up with my peers, I had to consciously force my chakra to various parts of my body - not too much though or I might go further ahead than desired.

I became less physically exhausted than I did mentally. It did at the very least get me used to the sensation of chakra sliding across and inside my body.

This became helpful during our second year when we finally started learning how to use our chakra. We wouldn't learn anything resembling a jutsu for years yet (Sasuke the overachiever excluded) but we were taught endless exercises to improve our control. These were challenging as opposed to the majority of our classes. The first time I'd managed to neatly fold a piece of paper in half with just my chakra I'd almost jumped out of my seat in pure happiness at my success.

Naruto, on the other hand, more often than not caused his paper to be ripped to shreds and flung across his desk like confetti. I don't think anyone besides myself noticed his failure was scarier than it was funny. Even with my rudimentary sensory skills, I could feel how much chakra he was emitting to make that happen. Uzumaki chakra reserves, even when limited by a seal holding the Kyuubi back, were a thing to be feared.

Hand signs were an equally bad topic for the blonde. I had to bite back my laughter numerous times upon seeing him accidentally gesture rudely towards Iruka, our teacher torn between berating him or letting the boy off due to his ignorance of his actions. In my opinion, I rather liked learning how to perform the twelve basic hand signs. There was something immensely satisfying about being able to curl your fingers into unnatural poses and flip a few irritating people off whilst doing so without being caught.

Petty, I knew, but it felt so good to subtly get my own back on some of my classmates who were even pettier.

The one subject Naruto seemed to actually excel at was the newly introduced taijutsu class. Sasuke always won against him, naturally, although the blonde's spars against Kiba were a little more evenly matched. They were fairly entertaining too, the pair using underhanded tactics often like throwing dirt in each others faces.

Iruka would yell at them later for it but I could never see why. For crying out loud, we were _ninja._ Underhanded tactics were just _tactics._

I was always tempted to do the same in my spars.

Ami had been my usual opponent to start with when the class was introduced only to be switched to Ino because of my winning streak. Taijutsu was the only class I refused to limit myself at. Experience was the most important factor to your victory in a fight, talent coming at a close second. As an academy student, I couldn't exactly gain fighting experience outside school without drawing attention to myself. It wouldn't even be worth it as who, aside from my peers, would want to spar against a young girl?

Anyway, people's grades in taijutsu were normally overlooked by teachers. It was why Rock Lee had had such a hard time as it didn't matter how strong or fast you punched, one simple jutsu could knock you down in a matter of seconds.

Ino was a good sparring partner. Her punches and kicks were strong for starters, but her strategical skill was her winning point. It was easy to think of Shikamaru being the brains behind the Ino-Shika-Cho combination since he was so far ahead of the other two in intelligence, however, that didn't mean Ino was stupid. She was good, great even at dancing around with the objective of flooring me before I could deal her any real damage. I was flexible simply as a product of my environment, having been forced by my parents to stretch daily since young, although I'd never envisioned how to use such a trait in battle until my sparring with Ino. Our fights demanded the ability to dodge attacks at strange angles and strike at difficult to reach places.

Iruka used us as an example to the troublemaking boys of our class that ran head first into a fight, lecturing them on how Ino and I fought with skill and not just raw power. Even Sasuke was guilty of acting in such a manner against Kiba and Naruto; the Uchiha boy who was supposed to know better.

I wondered if anyone else noticed how he flinched whenever he was told he was meant to be _better than that, smarter like your brother._ Ami certainly didn't. She just gushed about how he looked good even when being scolded and, if Itachi was ever brought up, frantically tell everyone how the elder brother was just as hot, if not hotter.

That was gossip which came to a skidding halt after the massacre.

I'm not sure why I expected more of a warning before it occurred. It wasn't as though I was in any way affiliated with the Uchiha clan, not even through my parents, and the planning of coups wasn't generally put out in the open for everyone to see. Stopping it hadn't been my objective so I hadn't gone out of my way to gather information on the affair but somehow I'd always assumed I'd know when it was going to happen. The suddenness of it all made it a far more emotional occasion that I'd planned on it being.

There were few amongst my classmates that seemed to understand the full horror of the killings. It was difficult to wrap your mind around as a child, the brutal culling of an entire clan. We hadn't been brought up with death like our parents. To them it was a tragedy, not unlike many they'd witnessed prior, but to us it was a foreign, new concept. The loud and present mourning of the older students at the academy made it for a few a little easier to comprehend. A member of a soon to graduate class had been a Uchiha. She'd died trying to help young children of the clan hide in the rafters of one of the houses.

The image was...sickening.

A girl, a _child_ , being pulled away from those she was attempting to save by Itachi. Those she'd given her life for would hear her screams from up above the scene of the murder, young and terrified. Inevitably, they'd be caught, perhaps shrieking and crying as their killer dragged them back into the open to be slaughtered.

And Itachi would then have the _nerve_ to look upon his little brother and declare that he could not kill him. Screaming, helpless children, he'd kill in a heartbeat, just not Sasuke because he was worth _more_ than them.

I did not view Itachi as a hero of our village. I would only ever have viewed him as such if he had killed them _all_ or none whatsoever.

(Of course, it could've easily been Tobi/Obito who had killed the girl, but it might as well have been Itachi who'd asked the man in the first place to assist with the massacre. And so many children had died that night that, even if that girl had escaped his blade, others had not.)

Sasuke came back to the academy a few weeks later, sullen and snappy. He stopped accepting his scolding with a sense of failure and instead looked angrily upon his mistakes. The girls who adored him were no longer endured in his presence, shoved away with glares and sneers.

I made no attempt to help the self-proclaimed _avenger._ At first, I'd feel guilty leaving him alone in the most fragile period of his life. Then he'd start snapping crueler things than necessary at people who, in his mind, were _getting in his way._ Sometimes, when he'd say something meant to hurt the fragile Hinata or anyone else I felt didn't deserve it, I'd get the urge to sneer something even more damaging back.

 _Oh, but couldn't_ _ **Itachi**_ _do something like that even with someone standing in the way? Sasuke, you're good at shuriken throwing because_ _ **Itachi**_ _taught you, right?_ _ **Itachi**_ _had_ _graduated already at your age, why haven't you?_

However, I held my tongue, shooting simply the deadliest glare I could muster whenever I felt he'd gone too far. I'd have to rely on Naruto to give lesser insults to the boy, a disappointing prospect as the blonde's tongue was far from sharp and witty.

Anyone else who could hit Sasuke with words where he was weakest gave him a free pass either because he was cute or because of what had happened to him. Whenever I was in a particularly vicious mood, I'd wonder whether he would turn out the way he did in the canon if he were any less attractive. Perhaps then people would have been more willing to quite literally knock some sense into that angst-ridden head of his.

* * *

 **I don't think I've said this yet but Sakura technically isn't a self-insert as I disagree with about eighty percent of her decisions haha**

 **I've only actually ever done oc-inserts so perhaps one day I'll make a character with my personality (most likely the most boring fanfic ever as oh boy I'd do nothing but tuck and roll out of the plot).**

 **Review question:**

 **If you had the power to stop the Uchiha massacre from happening with no one finding out your involvement in it, would you?**

 **I would actually tend towards letting it happen if only to stop a civil war from occurring. Abandon the few to save the majority.**

 **(Wow did it just gave ten shades darker in here haha)**


	5. The unexpected

_Issun saki wa yami_

 _"_ It is dark one inch ahead of you."

 _No one knows the future; expect the unexpected._

* * *

Time moved faster than I'd hoped it would.

Our extra kunoichi lessons came to an end when we were nine so we could focus on our other classes. They'd been remarkably helpful, or at least more useful than I'd anticipated them to be. By our final class, I knew two extra sign languages on top of the general Konoha sign language. One was the specific Konoha kunoichi sign language and the other was our class's own invention. It was a rite of passage for each year to create an entirely new sign language so that a chūnin could be invited to watch us communicate with each other and not be able to immediately decipher what we were saying.

The idea was that we'd then go on to teach our teams the sign language and those languages that survived the test of time would eventually replace the current official Konoha sign language. It was just the girls who learnt how to use and make several different sign languages rather than everyone for a simple reason: kunoichi weren't usually ever the main attacking force.

We were expected to organize our teams, not lead the charge. Men had on average larger chakra reserves than women, meaning they could fight longer and harder. Of course, that didn't mean there weren't strong females. If you were a powerful kunoichi then you were often thought higher of than your male counterparts, which was why Tsunade's name demanded so much respect despite her defection from the village.

The norm, however, was that the men were the cavalry and the women were the intelligence, gathering information and distributing it accordingly. Infiltration missions were carried out by more women than men for reasons in the same vein. Our class was told that we were likely to take such missions at least five times in our ninja careers whereas it was strange for men to take more than three.

Kakashi, funnily enough, was one of those sparse few that took on various infiltration jobs. It didn't take much research to find out that he was a male rarity who knew the kunoichi sign language perfectly, even as it was constantly changing. He probably knew more about the art of flower arrangement and the habits and tics of a geisha than the entirety of my kunoichi class knew altogether.

To be fair though, our class had dwindled in numbers by a substantial amount. At the start of the academy, the number of girls and boys in our year had been roughly equal. Now it was getting ever closer to the golden ratio of one girl to every two boys.

Unfortunately, the fuss over Sasuke seemed to somehow get _louder_ despite the ever-shrinking population of girls in our class.

"Honestly, Sakura, are you blind?" Ami asked me for the billionth time when questioning why I wasn't falling over him like everyone else. "He's _smart_ and _gorgeous_ and _so, so cool!"_

I rolled my eyes, stacking my papers up carefully before starting to slot them into my bag. "Oh yeah, he's so _cool_ telling everyone to get out of his way and shut up. How could I have not realized the extent of his _coolness_ until now?"

Ami waved my remark off easily, proceeding to tell me all about her newest scheme to win the arrogant Uchiha's heart through food. I clicked my tongue.

 _Honestly, my sarcasm is wasted here._

Starting to slide in the final piece of paper, Ami happened to catch sight of it and began to look self-important. I had to stop myself from ignoring the expression and leaving immediately. "That reminds me, what did you get on that test sensei gave back to us?"

"Sixty." I'd done worse than I'd intended. The questions had seemed too easy and I'd wrongly assumed that it was because I was smarter than the majority of my classmates, not that it had just been an easy test.

Ami's grin stretched. "That's great! I got eighty-three."

I bit my tongue before more sarcasm could leave my mouth ( _wow, that really is fucking great good for fucking you)._ "You're really smart, Ami." I praised her instead.

She shrugged and I felt sympathetic to the victims of her bullying. Being beaten down by someone at the level of Ami had to be as frustrating as it was upsetting. "No, it was just an easy test, that's all."

 _Ignore her. Just nod along. Don't bring attention to yourself._

She wasn't doing it strictly to be mean. Ami thrived off of praise, the life support to her small self-esteem. Besides, she _had_ done well at the test. Anyone else would be honestly impressed by her score. But there was something grinding away slowly inside of me. My patience was being chipped away piece by piece every time I got my test scores back, every time Iruka looked at me with a sigh at how I never got better, every time I felt my intelligence insulted by a child who _wasn't smarter than me and never would be._

( _Pettiness at its height,_ I mused, my earlier thought almost disgusting me.)

I parted ways with my 'friend' as soon as school ended. Ami was accompanied by other girls who were going to help each other make something so amazing that the oh-so-handsome-Sasuke-kun would realize he _loved_ these people he'd hardly ever interacted with. The invitation wasn't extended to me, not because Ami didn't want me there but because there was a mutual agreement that I didn't hang out with her outside school hours unless absolutely necessary. And, right now, I was glad she wasn't pushing the boundary I'd set up between us. The longer I spent with Ami, the more irritable I got.

Once home, I began to rifle through the homework Iruka had given us, having to carefully decide which questions I should get wrong and which ones right. The biology worksheet had to be 100% or there'd be trouble. It was an outline of a body with several arrows pointing to specific areas. The question was neatly underlined at the top: _Fatal or non-fatal? Circle those you'd survive being stabbed and tick those you wouldn't._

There weren't actually that many places you wouldn't survive when getting stabbed - or at least there were less than in my previous life. Kunai to the head? Bad. Kunai to the chest, abdomen, back? Walk it off champ.

Severe injuries also didn't usually mean death. A medic-nin could usually get you up and running within ten minutes of reaching them and help from teammates meant you'd survive even an hour after being wounded without proper medical attention. Chakra was a wondrous, wondrous thing indeed. There were millions of tales about ninjas having survived without food and water for weeks on end, only having chakra to sustain them. I didn't believe them for a second, naturally, but there were definite health advantages to having large chakra reserves.

Despite my interest in the medical side of chakra and ninjutsu, I decided quickly that I didn't want to pursue the original Sakura's career of a medic-nin. Medics were too important to just retire young and leave the village. The number of combat ninja would rise and fall but medic-nin were always in popular demand. Besides, being burdened with the responsibility to save someone's life didn't sit well with me.

* * *

 _Ram-Snake-Tiger._ "Clone Jutsu!"

There was something pitifully sad about seeing Naruto's washed out clone collapsed on the floor beside the original, vibrant orange monster. Naturally, Ami laughed at the spectacle alongside most of the class. When the purple haired girl grinned at me at whispered something about the blond being an idiot, I offered a strained smile.

 _Oh yes, he's an idiot. It's clearly all his fault that his chakra control is a mess, not the seal that is keeping a demon that would kill you in a heartbeat locked up. Such an idiot._

Iruka was pinching the bridge of his nose in a mixture of frustration and despair - understandably so as it had been months and Naruto hadn't even got close to making one semi-adequate clone.

I readjusted my arm warmers as Naruto started to play of his earnest attempt as a joke, declaring his creation a clone of a corpse and getting yelled at to take the class seriously. The arm warmer craze had started when Sasuke had first turned up to the academy wearing them, all of his fans immediately buying their own for the next day. Annoyingly, even though I'd bought mine before him, people had assumed I was one of the arrogant prick's admirers too.

The thought made me want to pull a face but playing along meant I wasn't going against the grain.

Mine were in fact like Minato's sleeves in the way that they had string holding them in place. There were two layers to them, the first made of white cloth that just poked out at the edges of the second layer of dark, chocolate fabric. I'd started wearing them because I'd kept accidentally cutting my wrists when drawing kunai out and laying them flat against my arm in a ready position. They matched the sleeveless wrap-around, hooded top in colour too. I'd specifically got one with a hood in order to cover my pink hair that was considerably shabbier and shorter than the original Sakura's. It looked much like her older post-shippuden haircut, except seeming more like I hadn't bothered to do anything more than comb through it a few times.

Which happened to the truth much to Mebuki Haruno's dismay.

The only article of clothing that wasn't dark chocolate was my trousers and those black. I looked remarkably less conspicuous than my classmates in the outfit I had chosen. Most of the girls dressed up like every day was fashion week, wearing bright colours and inappropriate clothing for battle. Not that the boys were any better with clan symbols that all but screamed 'TARGET PRACTICE'. At least I'd blend somewhat into a forest. The rest would be giant homing beacons of light.

On that note, Naruto had begun to wear his signature orange outfit. It took every fibre of my being not to scream at him at the first sight of it.

"Shikamaru, please demonstrate how to make a clone that is of yourself and not the dead kind," Iruka, having had enough of his blond student's antics, called out to the boy at the back of the classroom.

There was a heavy, tired sigh followed by the sound of someone getting up from their chair very slowly. Shikamaru took his time descending to the front of the classroom, ignoring Iruka's declaration of not having all day to wait for the boy. At the Nara's tired, done expression, I felt as though I connected with him on a spiritual level.

Of all the rookie nine, he was most likely the one I looked most favourable upon aside from Hinata. Smarter than his age group and not so ridiculously motivated like the others, meaning he wouldn't get suddenly involved in some horrible, dangerous mess. If venturing a friendship with him didn't mean a possibly awful future then I might've sought out his and Chōji's company. At the very least I wouldn't have had to listen to the stupid gossip Ami and her friends liked to chat about.

Drawing his hands out of his pockets, Shikamaru ran through the seals with practised, lazy ease. "Clone jutsu." The identical copy of the boy appeared in a puff of smoke, the twins then yawning in unison. "Can I go back to my seat now?" They both chorused.

"Loving the enthusiasm, Shikamaru." Iruka sighed, waving his hand in dismissal of his pupil. "Now, _everyone,"_ he emphasised, looking directly at the sheepish form of Naruto, "this is likely to come up on your final exam so, in order to make sure you know it, you're going to write an essay on how to do the jutsu and its uses."

Immediately, the classroom became filled with the sound groans. "Iruka-sensei, we all know how to use it except Naruto!" A boy loosely related to the Sarutobi clan shouted.

"Yeah, this isn't fair!"

"Make him just do it, not all of us!"

The chants of our class at the unfairness of the task Iruka was giving us got louder and louder until our teacher began to grow red with anger and slam his hands down onto his desk. " _You're all doing it so stop complaining unless you want to stay behind at school to write it!"_

Everyone shut up instantly.

Our teacher smiled. "Good."

Across the room, I saw the Sarutobi boy lean over his desk to hiss at Naruto who sat in front of him. _"_ This is all your fault."

The orange, walking disaster looked so crushed by the petty words of his classmate that I had to look away before I started to feel sorry for him. "He should just drop out." Ami then scoffed, hardly a controversial statement since most people who failed as much as Naruto did had done so already but the blond was a different case.

I dug my bitten nails into my palms.

* * *

"You're up early." Mebuki remarked to her husband as he entered the kitchen.

"Good morning to you too." Kizashi replied as approached the table I was sat at, ruffling my hair affectionately before sitting himself down. I mumbled a greeting of my own in between mouthfuls of my breakfast, blinking a few times upon taking notice of my father's attire. He noticed my staring and gave a small, fond smile. "One of my workers died making a trip with some merchandise." He explained in a tone that wasn't as light as usual but not nearly dark enough for talking about death. "Had a run in with some bandits. The funeral is in half an hour or so."

"Oh yes, have the attackers been caught?" My mother asked in a very conversational way. If I hadn't already got used to the world I lived in, it would have been unnerving.

Kizashi readjusted his black clothing. "No, not yet. There are some nasty rumours going round about Suna-nin having been behind it."

Mebuki snorted. "If they had time to rob some simple couriers then they would have solved all their economic problems by now."

Her husband laughed, shaking his head before turning in his chair to face me better. "Enough talk about that. Final exam season is soon, right?"

I nodded, trying to ignore the pooling sensation of dread in my stomach. Once I graduated, it wouldn't be long until dangerous situations would start rolling in. Potentially, I might be put in a team that would be failed by our jōnin teacher. The genin corps were always an option (even if most clan kids were meant to view that option with disdain) And, whilst another year at the academy might rot my brain, especially if Ami did the same, at least then I wouldn't be entered for the chūnin exams, not even if I went for the next possible graduation test.

Contrary to popular belief, there were several times of year that one could attempt to graduate, which was how Naruto had failed graduation so many times. People rarely took the test at any time aside from the end of the year if they weren't repeating a year. The blond however had forced his way in despite Iruka's blatant disapproval. Kiba had tried to do the same multiple times but he'd been more effectively stopped.

Going back to the issue at hand, if I happened to be assigned to a team with any of the rookie nine, I was guaranteed to pass the jōnin test. Naturally, I wouldn't replace any of the Ino-Shika-Cho team. That combination was tried and tested enough to last generations and there was no way it'd ever been changed for some average kunoichi.

The other teams, however, could be mixed up. Kiba and Naruto, despite the disaster they would cause, could easily be paired up. Shino and Sasuke were an equally likely prospect. The latter I could endure, even with Sasuke's brattish personality and Shino's eerie habit of explaining why he did everything he did. Hell, if I were to land on a team with Kiba, I'd happily go along with it. Just not one with Naruto.

 _Stop worrying, you won't be,_ I reassured myself. _You've planned everything out so the chances of you being placed on a team with him._

 _It'll be fine._

* * *

"Sakura Haruno!"

I slipped out of my seat as my name was called, barely acknowledging Ami's offhand comment of 'good luck'. Entering the other room where we were to be tested, I resisted the urge to want to pull my hood over my head. Iruka, oblivious to my discomfort, smiled reassuringly and gestured for me to stand in the middle of the floor. Mizuki followed his lead, although I couldn't help but think his smile looked more sinister.

 _He's a traitor to the village and has a front seat to the viewing of the next ninja generation._ The thought disturbed me despite the fact the man wasn't going to see anything worth selling off as information. I focused my gaze on the desk instead of his face, the rows of metal headbands not making me feel much better. Do they take it away from you when your jōnin sensei fails you _?_ If that was true then how devastated would the failing students be? To have been given confirmation of their success only to face an exam kept secret from them and have that symbol taken away? Or be told that they only way you could keep it was by entering the genin corps that most kids had been subtly warned away from as being 'lesser' than going into an actual team?

 _So much for coddling the newer generation._

"When you're ready," Iruka told me gently, waiting patiently. Taking a deep breath, more for show than necessity, I ran through the hand seals, focusing my chakra into my hands. The energy slid around my palms and fingers, then dispersing and forming a couple of clones.

My usual teacher beamed at the sight, Mizuki politely clapping at the show I'd put on for him. It made my skin crawl a little, soothed when my chakra swept over the affected areas. "Congratulations, you are now officially a ninja of Konoha!"

 _That is until someone else deems me unworthy a few days later._

I took the headband from Iruka's outstretched arm anyway, showing off a carefully planned smile of mock happiness at having passed. There was a part of me that was genuinely pleased by my success, probably the part that had absorbed all of Konoha's propaganda and felt a sense of love for the village. The rest accepted it as simply something that was bound to happen - I was smarter than my peers and, having started early, my chakra control was already up to par. Me failing this part of the testing to become a fully fledged genin was never going to have happened.

An hour or so later and all of my class bar Naruto were clutching and trying on their headbands, rushing outside to where many of our parents were. I saw Ino out of the corner of my eye flick her hair back and declare confidently to her father that _of course she passed, why wouldn't she have?_ Ami was less poised and was practically shrieking about her success to her mother who picked the girl up and swung her around in circles. Mebuki gave me a quick squeeze whilst Kizashi ruffled my hair, both telling me that they'd always known I'd pass.

Admittedly, their praise meant more to me than the headband, and I basked in a few minutes of honest content. Then I overhead some adults gossiping about Naruto and the moment was ruined.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't understand why Iruka hadn't allowed the boy to pass. He was protective of the boy but not passing Naruto just because of that felt ridiculous. I didn't for a second believe it was because he couldn't make clones of himself.

Naruto, despite being the 'dead-last' of our class, wasn't actually _that_ bad. His taijutsu skills were pretty good and his instincts were almost up to par with Kiba's. Ninjas didn't have to use clones most of the time anyway and he'd be on a team that could cover for his weakness. Naruto's tenacity alone should have been reason enough to pass him. It didn't matter how skilled your ninjas were if they'd surrender easily when surrounded.

Iruka's desire to have his student meet the exact criteria of the exam so that he knew Naruto was fully prepared to be a ninja was ridiculous.

Turning on my heel and squashing all thoughts of the blond boy, I began to walk home with my parents on either side of me, headband heavy in my hand.

* * *

I sat on my bed as I wound the string around the cloth that formed my left arm-warmer. Tying it off in a small double bow, I then reached for something that looked almost like a sweatband. I pulled it up my right arm, letting it rest on the upper part of my bicep. Through the material, I could feel the cool metal of my headband. It had to have been carefully bent by a professional blacksmith in order to snugly fit around the curvature of my arm. My parents had happily forked out the money for it as a gift for my graduation. It sat with me as a nicer present than that of new weaponry, even if it had less of a use to me as a newly graduated ninja.

Slipping on my other arm-warmer, I began tying it down too with my left hand. Having to do so many hand seals in quick succession did wonders for dexterity in all fingers and I tied it off with ease, glancing at my reflection after doing so.

I imagined the original Sakura fixing her long hair and blowing kisses to her mirror, admiring how her headband sat atop her head. She'd be looking forwards to the team placements, hoping that she'd be placed with her long time crush. A stereotypical prepubescent girl.

Standing up, I attached my pouch to my waistband and weapons' holster to my thigh. Perhaps it was unnecessary to do so considering we were just meeting our new teams, but I knew I wouldn't be the only one carrying them. Besides, it gave me a sense of safety, the ultimate goal of all my actions.

The classroom was almost full by the time I got there. Ami waved me over and I tried not to make a face at how she was sat next to Sasuke, making sickly sweet noises at him. Ino sat on the other side of the boy, periodically pausing her unsubtle flirtation to bicker with the purple haired girl. Biting back a sigh, I slipped in next to Ami, attention momentarily drawn to Naruto who was noisily chatting about how he'd passed the test to someone who hadn't known.

 _Yeah and you couldn't have been less loud in doing so,_ I thought. The night Naruto had stolen the scroll the alarms had gone on for _hours._ I ended up having to give up on sleeping and practised walking on the walls of my bedroom.

Well, at least he wasn't bugging me like he would the original Sakura. The apparent lack of care for my appearance aside (although that image had been purposefully constructed), my acquaintance with Ami seemed to have curbed all chances of the blond having a crush on me.

It did, unfortunately, mean that the accidental kiss between Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't happen though. A shame, I would've loved to see Ami's face.

"Right, settle down!" Iruka ordered as he stepped into the room. He had a few visible bruises and bandages but was otherwise as right as rain, shooing Naruto to his seat when the boy didn't start moving. "You're all real ninjas now so act like it!"

"Damn right we are!" Kiba whooped, a crowd of boys cheering at his outburst and Akamaru barking.

"May I remind you however that you are only rookie genin so don't get ahead of yourself, Kiba." Iruka grinned a little when the same crowd of boys 'ooo-ed' at the sheepish Inuzuka clan member, our teacher brushing the imaginary dust off his shoulder and making a few girls giggle. "Now, all of you listen seriously. As you are only genin, you are to be assigned to three-man teams with one jōnin teacher. You are to follow their instructions as you carry out missions."

He picked a clipboard off his desk, scanning through the names. "Oh, and before I begin, these teams are _final_ so, if you take issue with them, tough luck."

" _Ehhhh_?!" Most of the class whined at the proclamation but Iruka waved their complaints off, beginning to read off the teams.

"Team one, Kirako Fuhase, Takito Sarutobi..."

"I can't wait to be on your team, Sasuke-kun!" Ami gushed over the sound of Iruka's voice, moving to grasp the boy's arm only for him to lean backwards.

Ino scoffed, flicking her hair dramatically. "Dream on, idiot. You're not nearly good enough to be on his team."

"... _and_ _Hikaru Onoyashi. Team three, Yahiko Matsuyo..."_

"Oh puh- _lease_ , Ino-pig, who would be better than me? I don't have to try showing off my midriff for attention after all," Ami sneered, the blonde girl hissing at her. Sasuke was somehow ignoring the fight going on right in front of him, eyes dead set on Iruka. I wished I could do the same, fidgeting with the ends of my arm-warmers.

"At least I don't go around badmouthing people because I'm insecure about myself!" I had to bite my lip to stop myself from smiling at Ino's perfectly aimed insult, Ami gaping at her in horror and anger.

" _You-!"_

"Team seven, Sakura Haruno," my ears pricked up and I snapped my head around to look at Iruka. "Sasuke Uchiha-"

A loud chorus of dismay that included the betrayed voice of Ami cut Iruka off. _Fucking great,_ I internally groaned as our teacher attempted to quiet the distressed girls, Ami shooting a look that screamed 'traitor'. _I get the arrogant, teenage dark-lord to babysit, what_ _ **fun**_ _. This is exactly what I always dreamed of-_

Iruka had to shout to be heard over the upset cries. "And Naruto Uzumaki!"

 _FUCK._

* * *

 **BEFORE SOMEONE YELLS AT ME FOR TEAM SEVEN LISTEN** _ **PLEASE.**_

 **I do NOT intend to follow the canon plot other than in a few instances. Ask any 'Kyoko' readers, when I go semi-AU I go semi-AU** _ **hard.**_ **It admittedly might take a while before absolutely everything goes topsy-turvy but trust me, this fic will diverge more and more from the canon as time goes on**

 **This, however, is one of the instances where this has to happen for the sake of where I want the story to go.**

 **Team seven is also happening for reasons beyond Sakura's control because NINJA POLITICS.**

 **And oh wow there was quite the boom in reviews last chapter. Sorry if I accidentally missed any of you in my replies, it wasn't intentional!**

 **Review Question:**

 **If you could pick the two other members of your team from the rookie nine plus team guy, who would you choose?**

 **I think I'd pick Shikamaru and Lee because our motivation levels would level out haha.**

 **On a more serious note, I'd choose them because Shikamaru would be able to direct Lee's raw power and be insanely effective with it. I'd just be in the background providing whatever support needed.**


	6. Hide your claws

**_Double update because leaving off at the end of this chapter doesn't sit well with me_**

* * *

 _Nou aru taka wa tsume wo kakusu_

 _"The talented hawk hides its claws."_

 _Still water runs deep._

* * *

For a few moments, I lost the ability to breathe.

I just sat there as Iruka continued reading out the teams, only hearing white noise and squeezing my hands so tight they hurt.

 _Naruto Uzumaki._

They'd put me on a team with him. The one guy I had been avoiding like the plague and they just dumped me with him and Sasuke and- _ohgodnonononoanythingbutthisplease._

Images of the future flashed through my mind. Zabuza and his sword, Orochimaru and the chūnin exam, Gaara, Pein, the Akatsuki, Danzo, _Tobi-_

 _Oh. God. No._

All my plans of escape from those events, from those people, slipped through my fingers. Every action I'd taken to avoid this, useless. Pointless. Worthless. _I am going to die-_

"After break you'll meet with your teachers so don't be late!" Iruka's dismissal of us was what dragged me back to my seat in the classroom and I tried to cover up my violent coughs, feeling dizzy and faint.

"Ugh, you're so _lucky_ to be on Sasuke-kun's team!" Ami none-too-gently pushed me out of her seat so she could get out from behind the desk. Her voice was sharp and cutting, intended to cause harm even though I was meant to be her friend. Jealousy was a hell of a thing and me being placed on a team with her long term crush that I didn't even like in the slightest just seemed _unfair._ She'd apologize later, not outright but with embarrassed, hesitant questions as to how my team was and grins at how at least Ino hadn't gotten the prize everyone wanted.

However, I didn't consider this. Instead I stumbled a little and, without thinking, snarled at her. " _Sorry the fucking world doesn't revolve around you,_ _ **bitch**_ _."_

No one heard what I'd said aside from Ami so people looked at her in confusion as she ran out of the classroom, pale-faced and teary eyed. I didn't bother running after her and apologizing. In fact, I had to squash the urge to want to continue insulting her.

It felt _good_ to finally say what I thought after all these years. I was bitter and petty from forcing the words down and the trigger of my careful planning bearing rotten fruit released the dam of negative feelings.

So, with no regret and only vindication towards my actions to Ami, I left the classroom by myself.

* * *

"Crying already? What a wimp!" Someone jeered when our break was over, Ami glaring at them with her red eyes before snapping her head around purposefully away from me in an act that screamed 'I'm ignoring you'.

 _Good,_ was the only response I had to that, sitting on the opposite side of the room with my new, unwanted team. That, unfortunately, meant being sandwiched between Naruto and Sasuke as they refused to sit anywhere near each other.

I looked dead ahead, ignoring Naruto's semi-curious glances at me. I'd never explicitly shown any immense dislike towards him but I hadn't been friendly either. He was probably wondering how I viewed him as a person. Quite frankly, I was more concerned with trying not to throw up than giving any indication I didn't despise him to the core.

Just...strongly disliked.

After a quick message of encouragement from Iruka and how proud he was of us, our jōnin-sensei began to show up, collecting their teams one by one. Teams eight and ten were the exact same as they had been in the canon and I looked at Hinata with envy I'd never felt towards her before. When more than half an hour had passed, Iruka explained apologetically that he was needed elsewhere and we were left alone.

As soon as Naruto got bored of sitting down and started investigating the classroom, I slid along the bench as far as I could away from Sasuke. An idea was forming in my mind of being as anti-social as possible in hopes of Kakashi failing us - he was definitely going to be our teacher considering how late our jōnin was. The probability of me succeeding in this was slim. Kakashi might have failed all his other prospective students without remorse but there was one of the last Uchihas and his teacher's son on this team. He would have both pressure from the higher ups and himself to pass us.

Still. It was a plan and I desperately needed a glimpse of hope to cling to.

"How come our jōnin-sensei is so late?!" Naruto eventually complained, storming towards the blackboard and swiping the board eraser. "That'll teach him a lesson!" He declared gleefully, dragging a stool over to wedge it in the door.

"No jōnin worth their salt would fall for that, idiot." Sasuke drawled as Naruto hopped off the stool, admiring his handiwork.

On cue, the door slid open and the eraser fell with a thump onto the top of Kakashi Hatake's head.

There was a beat of silence and then Naruto _exploded_ with laughter, jeering at Sasuke for being incorrect. The Uchiha downer rolled his eyes, immediately writing Kakashi off as unreliable and not worth his _precious_ time.

I however noted that, in those few seconds, the man had already analysed us all. He'd read the size of our chakra reserves, judged our attire, carefully took apart our expressions and deduced a lot about our personalities. All whilst standing there, eraser slipping from his head as he perfectly assumed the role of a harmless, older man.

Harmless really didn't belong in the description of a jōnin, and especially not in one of Kakashi Hatake, the Copy-nin.

"My first impression: I don't like you." He told us in a blunt, somewhat cheery voice.

Naruto spluttered indignantly. Sasuke glowered. I pretended I didn't want to throw myself out of a window.

"Well then, meet me on the roof in five minutes. No, wait, make that one. Your first impression really was _that_ good." Waving before any of us could complain about his terms, Kakashi vanished into a puff of smoke.

"...This is your fault, dead-last," Sasuke informed the blonde as he strolled quickly out of the room, past the gawking Naruto.

It took him a second to realize what the Uchiha had said. "HEY! Get back here you bastard!"

I had to use all my willpower to not just slip away as they ran ahead, the two now racing each other to see who would get there first. _Great. This is just...great._

By the time I'd reached the roof, Naruto had already caught back his breath and was yelling about not losing to Sasuke next time they raced, the dark haired boy scoffing at the thought of Naruto winning. "You're late." Kakashi, who was perched on a railing with a book open in one hand, directed the comment at me, not seeming to care at all about it.

"So were you," I pointed out. It felt a little nerve wracking to be talking back to a jōnin like this but I swallowed the feeling.

"I'm allowed to be," he replied as though it was common knowledge. Which, technically, it was. "Now, how about you all introduce yourselves?"

"How about you introduce _yourself_?" Naruto huffed, clearly not happy with having been assigned to a jōnin he thought was useless. Sasuke seemed to be carrying the same sentiment.

 _Oh ignorance, what a sweet bliss you are…_

"Hmm, me? I'm Kakashi Hatake."

"...And?" Sasuke was looking less impressed by the minute.

" _And_ that's it. Everything else I could possibly tell you about myself is either classified information or not suitable for young children to hear about." Kakashi finished, not seeming to care that the Uchiha was now regarding him with disgust. "Now, you first on the right. Tell me about yourself. Like, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, you know the stuff."

Naruto, who had earlier looked ready to dive into an argument with the man at how stingy he was with information, was placated by being chosen to go first. "Believe it! I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I like ramen!"

"Yeah, like we didn't all already know you live off the god damn stuff," I muttered under my breath, although it was plenty loud enough for everyone to hear.

The orange-clad boy blinked before pouting and crossing his arms. "Jeez, _okay_ Sakura-chan." I internally winced at the emphasis on the honorific attached to my name. He was obviously trying really, _really_ hard for me to like him. "I guess my dream is then to beCOME HOKAGE!" He ended loudly, jumping to his feet.

"If you become Hokage I'm defecting with no regrets."

Naruto gaped at me. " _Sakura-chan!"_

"Well then," Kakashi continued as though I hadn't said anything. "You, on the left, tell us about you."

The dark haired boy linked his fingers together. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and kill a certain man."

"Aren't you a ray of sunshine?" Naruto sniggered at my words and I felt another rush of vindication when Sasuke shot the filthiest look I'd ever seen at me.

"Why don't you tell us about you now since you have so much to say." Our jōnin teacher gestured to me.

I took a deep, silent breath. _How many people can I offend in a few sentences?_ It was as thrilling an idea as it grated against everything I'd done up to this point. But my anger from earlier was still simmering away and I let the words I'd bottled up for so long spew from my mouth.

"I'm Sakura Haruno. I like spending time with my family as, considering the percentage of orphans around here, they'll probably die soon in some horrific affair. I don't like these two idiots with one of them thinking that orange is the best colour for a fucking ninja and the other intent on being the most angst ridden kid that ever roamed this earth. My dream is to get through this whole ordeal without murdering someone due to their colossal stupidity."

Glancing around me, I saw Naruto picking at his clothing and mumbling about it not being 'that bad', and Sasuke a nudge away from slitting my throat. To the front, I could see a curved smile underneath Kakashi's mask and contrasting eye that didn't look amused at all.

 _Perfect._

"What a lovely team I have been entrusted with. And, on that high note, tomorrow we are going to start working together."

Naruto was immediately cheered up, fist pumping in the air. "YEAH! What mission are we going to do? Save a princess? Defeat an evil warlord? I'm ready for it Kakashi-sensei, believe it!"

 _I'm not a believer._

"Survival training." Kakashi now seemed somewhat amused by how Naruto deflated just like that. "I don't, of course, mean the little kiddy ones you did at the academy. This training has a sixty-six percent fail rate and, if you fall into that group, you will be sent back to the academy."

Sasuke turned his death-glare from me to the jōnin. Naruto was far more vocal about his frustration. "What?! No way! What the hell is the point of the graduation exam then?!"

"I'll meet you at training ground three at five o'clock tomorrow morning. Don't bother with breakfast, you'll just throw it all up again. See you then, brats!" With a lazy salute, he exploded into smoke again, leaving us alone once more. Naruto filled the silence easily, shaking his fist and yelling at Kakashi to get back there, immediately.

After a moment's contemplation, Sasuke stood up, purposefully brushing by me when I did the same. "Get in my way and I'll kill you." He growled, stuffing his hands in his pockets and sauntering off.

I resisted the urge to beg for him to do exactly that, not bothering to say goodbye to Naruto who was still screeching at the air for our new teacher to come back and fight him, fair and square.

* * *

As soon as I got home and the high from my anger had died down, I started to pack things up frantically. _If I leave now I could make it,_ I thought as I opened and closed drawers, trying to decide the minimum amount of stuff I had to take with me. I'd have to wait for my parents to come home first. They'd be wanting to hear how my first day of being a proper ninja had gone, but after that I could reel of excuses and make my getaway.

The people manning the gates wouldn't question where I was going now I had a Konoha headband so I'd have at least twelve hours before people started realizing I'd left, perhaps even longer since Kakashi would undoubtedly turn up late.

 _But where am I going to go?_

I paused stuffing clothing into my backpack, tears having started to well up in my eyes due to the frenzied panic I was in. My first priority would be to put as much distance between myself and Konoha as possible so I wouldn't be caught up to but what about after that? Waving my hand across the floor, I felt for the fabric of my wallet, snatching it up and peering inside. There was enough for perhaps a few days in an inn and for good meals too. I'd need to get out of the Land of Fire however as soon as possible and then somehow exchange the money I had for the appropriate currency all whilst potentially being chased-

 _Oh god, they'll be able to track me by scent._

I sank into the floor, harsh breathing almost painful as I stared at my room. _If I set fire to the house then perhaps I can get rid of anything they could track me with or maybe I can somehow persuade Iruka to help me to quit or if I…_

 _ **This isn't fair.**_

Agonizing realization made me double over, barely biting back the tears. No, I couldn't run away now. I'd be caught before even getting close to crossing any borders. The only hope I had now was to fail the test Kakashi was going to give us.

 _Come on Sakura, statistics is on your side,_ I told myself, trying to pull myself together. A sixty-six percent fail rate. Kakashi would have pressure to pass us yes, however, maybe my assessment had been wrong. Maybe Kakashi would stick to his guns and ignore any politics going on in the background.

It was possible.

In which case, I had to find as much info as possible on the test. I had to fail every single expectation required of me.

A few hours after my mini-breakdown, I collapsed onto my bed, carelessly pushing the book I'd been flicking through onto the floor. Despite all the research I'd done, I couldn't find any concrete information about the test all of our graduated class were to face with their respective jōnins. Not even my parents, who were registered ninjas, knew about it. It had to be a fairly new thing, I deduced, probably introduced after the last war. Kakashi was most likely the only one doing the bell test as it had been personally passed down to him by Minato, so each jōnin had to have their own way of assessing potential genins.

This was annoying as it meant I couldn't get the exact details of what warranted a pass or fail aside from the obvious 'don't abandon teammates'. Even that though was vague. The original team seven had passed by offering food to their teammate. That simple a gesture was enough for Kakashi to pass them so it would be incredibly easy to accidentally give some display of teamwork!

Blatantly putting my teammates in danger to show there was no semblance of teamwork between us was also a stupid plan. Punishments for deliberately attempting to cause harm to a fellow ninja weren't any lighter just because you were a genin. Escaping Konoha after that would be nigh impossible!

So, I just had to turn up and be useless.

 _Just like the original,_ I thought and immediately regretted it. At least she didn't purposefully inflict harm upon others to save her own skin. I was simply being a coward.

* * *

Both Sasuke and Naruto were already at the meeting point before I arrived. Neither of them had even thought to take advantage of Kakashi's tendency to turn up late although I could hardly blame them. The jōnin being late once didn't mean for certain it was a habit for him.

Naruto perked up a little at my arrival as Sasuke and him had blatantly been ignoring each other, the blonde engaging me in a very one-sided conversation. I took the chance to get myself familiar with his chakra, engraining the specific sensation into my mind. It could come in useful later when I wanted to avoid him and I hadn't exactly been close enough in the academy to do this before now. Sasuke leant against a tree a fair distance away from us, hands in pockets and moody expression firmly planted on his face.

I squashed the urge to want to scout out the surroundings as we waited. That would be a smart move and gain me points when I was trying to _fail_ this test. Being genuinely clueless would help to get Kakashi to decide I wasn't cut out to be a ninja. I did feel somewhat exasperated by how both Naruto and Sasuke weren't taking note of the layout of the training ground. The thought probably hadn't crossed the blonde's mind whilst the Uchiha had likely assumed Kakashi wasn't worth the effort.

Honestly, did he really think that someone weaker than him could possibly become a jōnin? He was going to be in for a nasty surprise if he really did believe that.

A few more hours passed before Kakashi finally showed up. I wondered briefly if he had been watching us do nothing as part of the test. "Good morning!" The jōnin waggled his fingers in greeting, a gesture that seemed mocking to the three of us who had been waiting so long for him.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto yelled, furious. An excuse about a black cat crossing his path left Kakashi's mouth, almost making me snort in amusement. Some ninjas were certainly superstitious enough to actually use that as a legitimate reason for lateness, but Kakashi had been on so many missions he would have had the idea of luck firmly ground out of him.

You completed missions successfully because of your own hard work and training, not just because you'd happened to have good luck that day.

(Excluding Naruto of course as good luck seemed to gravitate towards him like a magnet.)

Kakashi brought out an alarm clock from his bag and fiddled with it for a few seconds before setting it down for us all to see it. "There, it's set for noon."

Sasuke shot him an impatient glare that shouted 'so?'.

The jōnin took no notice of it, taking his time in drawing out two bells from his pocket and dangling them in front of us. "Your task is to take these from me before noon. If you don't get a bell, you don't get lunch and are tied up there whilst I eat mine." He waved towards the three tree stumps. Rather amusingly, Naruto's stomach grumbled at that exact moment. "Since there are only two bells, one of you is definitely going to be sent back to the academy. Oh and if you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you might as well just tie yourself to those tree stumps now."

I was extremely tempted to do just that but didn't take the bait. Naruto's desire for food seemed to win out against his concern for his new teacher's life and he yelled something along the lines of 'you're going down, believe it', grinning widely. "No questions? Then let's get going." Kakashi bent forwards a little, a clear intimidation tactic. I very almost fell for it, muscles tensing and chakra shooting down to my legs. "Ready...start!"

Sasuke kicked off the ground hard enough for me to feel it and I stopped myself from reflexively doing to same by rooting myself to the soil with chakra beneath my feet. All my basic training at the academy screamed that I should be rushing off to hide, to bide my time before striking at the far more powerful enemy, but I stood my ground beside Naruto. His lack of the basic instinct to hide nearly dumbfounded me, a confident grin on his face.

Kakashi didn't seem surprised by how the blonde hadn't hid but I saw him raise an eyebrow at my presence. "Ninja protocol dictates you should hide yourself well when engaging in combat with an unknown enemy," he informed us patronizingly, Naruto crossing his arms.

"I'm not a coward like _Sasuke!_ Come on, we'll fight you head on! Right, Sakura-chan?" Naruto turned to look at me, eyes bright with glee at the thought of beating Kakashi to a pulp.

"You do that, I'll watch you get your ass kicked from right over here." My gaze momentarily flickered towards the trees surrounding the clearing. Unlike Naruto, I'd already firmly imprinted Sasuke's chakra into my mind. It was possibly the only useful thing that came about from Ami dragging me with her to see the boy.

He was nearby, perched on a tree that allowed him full view of the rest of us. I could already hear his internal comments on mine and Naruto's stupidity. For once I begrudgingly agreed with his assessment.

 _Which is exactly why I'm doing this._

My orange-clad teammate was stunned by my response only momentarily, charging forwards at Kakashi. The jōnin then pulled out the infamous book written by Jiraiya himself and the carnage began.

Naruto's taijutsu was, in terms of raw power, better than my own. It didn't even put a dent however in the fighting prowess of Kakashi. The difference in skill between them made it seem as though Naruto was a house cat trying to face off an amused, fully grown lion. He was thrown this way and that, Kakashi not even deeming it necessary to look at him whilst they fought.

Not even a minute had passed before Naruto had officially lost his temper and shadow clones swarmed the clearing, causing me to have to step a little to the side to avoid the stampede. His plan was actually rather impressive, I realized upon seeing clones that Kakashi couldn't see due to my positioning. Use overwhelming head on force to prepare him to attack ahead and then hit him from behind with a few, armed clones.

Of course, it didn't end up succeeding. Kakashi simply substituted his way out of the situation, leaving the bait of a single bell for when Naruto had finally figured out the jōnin hadn't transformed into one of his clones. My teamate swung upside down on the rope attached to his ankle, thrashing about as Kakashi regarded him with a sigh.

"I told you you'd get your ass kicked." My comment only made Naruto squirm about more, yelling for the man to let him down.

The same man who had started heading towards me.

I readied myself in a fighting stance. Feigning uselessness was one thing but not doing at least that much was a worrying lack of common sense. He walked towards me slowly, eyes still on his book. My chakra slipped and slid over my skin in anticipation for the first blow, ready to soften the full brunt of the attack. _Where will he go for? Which limb will he use? What direction should I move in so it hurts less? How long should I try to fight him for? Should I dodge? What if he uses a justu? Will he use a jutsu-_

Kakashi placed his hand down on my head, gaze still on his novel. _"_ _ **It's pathetic**_ _._ "

I froze up completely. The pressure from his hand was tiny but I felt as though I was going to fall to my knees anyway. It was like an invisible blade had been put to my neck, although my killer wasn't even sparing a glance for his soon to be murder-victim.

 _I'mgoingtodieI'mgoingtodieI'mgoingtodiehelpmehelpmehelpme._

" _ **You might as well give up on life since you won't ever try at anything.**_ "

The weight on top of my head was lifted and I could hear Kakashi's receding footsteps. There had been no physical combat or evaluation of my skills as a ninja. He'd granted that to Naruto, the dead-last of our class, but deemed it unnecessary for me. I wasn't even worth a minute of his time. An automatic failure.

Exactly what I'd wanted him to view me as.

Except that rational, _beautiful_ thought slipped away before I could realize I'd won.

Images flooded my mind. A girl that ultimately dropped out of the academy being pushed into a corner and sneered at by Ami. I was watching it unfold, eyes narrowed but lips firmly kept shut. Tests being given back to our whole class, Iruka pausing in front of me and telling me I'd done well with a smile that sighed 'again?'. The constant preparation, the careful capping of my own abilities so I'd never be noticed to be ahead of my peers. Just average Sakura, unnoticeable Sakura, who had tried so hard to get by without anyone realizing she'd even been there, and failed because someone had thought she belonged on team seven.

 _How dare he?_

Anger bubbled up inside of me, pressing against my skin and screaming to be released. It was purer than before, hotter, more violent, more uncontrollable.

 _How_ _ **dare**_ _he?_

Haven't ever tried at anything? All I'd ever done is _try my best._ Everyday I'd been overworking myself just so nobody ever looked twice at me! I'd listened to stupid, mindless chatter of girls who thought Sasuke Uchiha was the epitome of boyfriend-material. I'd watched people's self esteem and lives get torn apart by my own _friend_ and hated every second of it but still managed to not react! I'd let my own pride be squashed day in and day out by pretending I didn't know obvious, _simple_ things, smiling to people who made fun of it because I'd be found out otherwise. For years I'd done this! _Years!_

And this all wasn't even my own _fault._ Not me waking up in this terrifying universe, not me still somehow ending up on the team I'd tried so hard to avoid, _**nothing.**_

 _ **How fucking dare he tell me I wasn't trying.**_

Naruto was yelling for me to help him break free of Kakashi's trap but I ignored him. Instead, I flicked my hood over my head and narrowed my green eyes.

 _Fine. I'll fucking show you the trying you want then._

* * *

 **This a stupid move on Sakura's part and she should know better. But everyone has a breaking point and, after years of doing everything right only to have it blow up in her face in the form of her position on team seven, we have finally reached hers.**

 **Aside from the normal review question, do you think the reasoning as to why she's reached her breaking point makes sense or should I elaborate more on that part of the chapter? I honestly would like the feedback as this is an important part of her development as a character.**

 **Kakashi is also purposefully saying something kinda OOC don't worry it's intentional**

 **Review question:**

 **If you ended up on team seven as Sakura's 'replacement', would you work together with your teammates to get the bells off Kakashi or work alone/specifically try to fail?**

 **I think I might actually try to work as a team just because I'd be too terrified to move alone. That or I'd just start crying the second Kakashi went for me...**


	7. When poisoned

_Doku kuwaba sara made_

 _"When poisoned one might as well swallow the plate."_

 _One might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb._

* * *

Sasuke Uchiha had an inordinate amount of pride in his abilities. He also, Kakashi observed, had the actual skill to back his pride up.

The boy was deserving of his title as the top graduate of the academy, combining both fighting prowess and well thought out strategies in his attempts to beat the jōnin. Of course, it was only at a genin level, even if it was in the higher end of that range. Kakashi could easily dance around him, although he lamented the fact he couldn't read more of his book whilst defending the bells.

Then again, a fight that pushed him far enough to have to pay proper attention was interesting in its own right. His bout with Naruto had been amusing alas his shrieked threats became old quickly. As for Sakura…

Well.

When he'd first seen the girl's file the only thing that had caught his attention for more than a split second was the incredible averageness of her. In a way, she was exactly what a normal jōnin teacher would want. She was a blank slate that could easily be pushed off into one specialized area. The only reason Sakura Haruno had been assigned to team seven was because it was traditionally an assault team and she was one of the top if not best kunoichi at taijutsu in her year.

(Actually, to be honest, there were other more politically sensitive reasons as to why Sakura had been put on the team but in his assessment of her skill it was hardly relevant.)

She'd been more verbally aggressive than Kakashi had expected although her friendship with the class bully explained that. It was her reluctance to face his test with all her effort that had really rubbed him the wrong way.

Ninjas who didn't try would get their fellow Konoha-nin killed. There were lesser-known punishments for those who could be proven to have not done all in their power to succeed in a mission they'd failed.

His words to the girl earlier might have been more damaging than necessary but that trait of hers needed to be crushed earlier rather than later. Kakashi was already intending to give the genin a second chance at impressing him properly even if they didn't show any semblance of teamwork (the Hokage would skin him if he didn't give them an ample chance after all). So, if luck was with him, Sakura would do her best in getting the bells then.

Sasuke broke Kakashi's line of thought by almost setting him on fire.

 _Impressive for someone his age,_ Kakashi mused with a raised eyebrow despite the fact he'd been a jōnin by the time he'd been as old as Sasuke, slipping into the earth and making his way underneath the boy. Bursting his hand out through the ground, he named the technique, _headhunter jutsu,_ before dragging Sasuke downwards by the ankle. Up above the soil again, he squatted in front of the scowling Uchiha, visible eye crinkling as he smiled. "You should always remember that the enemy can attack from all angles, including below you."

Sasuke gritted his teeth and hissed something mildly offensive, which was cut off midway with wide eyes. Kakashi started to turn in response only to just catch glimpse of a foot as it barreled into his left arm.

* * *

I could feel Sasuke's surprised gaze on me as I landed the kick on Kakashi. To be honest, I too was surprised that the attack had connected, but that emotion was buried under the burning anger that grinned at my small victory. _Dig in,_ I thought, chakra focused around my foot. _Dig in and hurt him._

The moment was short lasted. Kakashi managed to twist his body around in an almost impossible way to kick back at me. I crossed my arms to block it, calling my chakra back from my foot to absorb the blow as best I could. It didn't counteract it entirely and I was thrown backwards, turning midair so I landed onto the tree trunk feet first. Bark splintered beneath me and I moved my chakra around again, sticking to the tree horizontally.

Kakashi was already starting towards me at a slow gait, clearly intending to talk about my change of mind from earlier, but now was the time I had the upper hand - if I were to pretend I even stood a chance against him in a serious fight that is. _What to do though?_

My eyes took in my surroundings as I tried to come up with a plan. I'd lost around a fifth of my chakra supply in my first attack. In my anger, I'd concentrated more than needed to my foot and it had been expelled as a result afterwards. That being said, there weren't many jutsus I knew that would be of use to me right now. Aside from the basics, I only knew a few others, although those were generally only known in theory-

 _Got it._

 _Snake-Ram-Monkey-Boar-Horse-Tiger._

Kakashi quickly came to a halt, eye widening. "Another one?" He threw himself to the side as I breathed in deeply, raising my hand to my mouth.

"Fireball jutsu?!" Sasuke looked as though he was about to fall into a state of shock, naming the jutsu I'd made the hand signs for. "How-"

My other hand shot up as well and my fingers became a blur of movement, coming together with practised ease. A puff of smoke then enveloped me and a large stone fell out of it onto the ground. Kakashi spun, metal meeting metal as I stabbed my kunai forwards from behind him. Sparks flew as I put my whole body weight into trying to push past his block, trying to catch him off-guard with a punch from my left hand. He caught it and my lips twisted into a snarl, ignoring the pain from how hard he was gripping my fist.

Kakashi then blinked as my leg shot upwards in a display of flexibility that had been gained from my fights with Ino. He leant his head back to avoid my foot smashing into his chin. Taking the chance offered, I dropped my kunai, other leg kicking off the ground so that my knee swung towards his face. Pain concentrated in my captive hand, making me bite back a wince, however, it ceased in order for the jōnin to stop me from potentially getting his neck caught between my thighs.

Hands free, I didn't even try to get around his block, fingers blurring once again and smoke covering my body. Kakashi just about managed to catch the kunai that had fallen out of the air as I did a sweeping kick, having replaced my earlier dropped weapon. I couldn't read his expression through the dispersing smoke but my anger hoped gleefully he had been taken aback by my second use of the substitution jutsu. My legs connected with nothing and I let my momentum roll me to the side when two kunais were thrown down at me, avoiding them cleanly.

I somersaulted to my feet, adrenaline singing through the pain of the cuts and bruises of rolling across the ground. A masked face flashed into existence an inch away from my nose and I swallowed the gasp of surprise - _body flicker, shitshitshit -_ in favour of reflexively punching forwards. It was an easy one to dodge, fist brushing past his hair, and I extended my fingers, chakra flowing in a straight line right to one of the nearby discarded kunai. The chakra thread grasped onto it and sent it spinning wildly in the direction of my outstretched hand.

Fingers encircled my wrist and I was practically spun around by the force at which it was shoved away. My back was now to Kakashi and, as my chakra thread broke, I heard the noise of the kunai being caught by his open hand. I knew where the blade would go next, common sense dictated that, so, as it was lifted to the nape of my neck, I snatched the opening right up.

A sharp point teased at my skin as I stood there, completely frozen and fully aware that I was at Kakashi's mercy. Despite this, I didn't move my hand that was now firmly gripping the bells attached to the jōnin's belt.

My anger crowed with pleasure.

Technically, I thought with sick, vindictive glee, I'd won. Kakashi wouldn't kill me. I could rip the bells off of him and he wouldn't be able to stop me from doing so. And it would feel _so good_ if I did. No words would have to leave my lips when I'd turn around to face him because he'd know them. _I should just give up on life, huh? So pathetic, am I? I'd never try in my life?_

 _What the fuck was that then, sensei?_

This would be my victory. I'd finally have something to physically show for all those years of trying and trying and _oh god what have I done?!_

I released the bells with wide eyes, horror creeping up my spine and circling around the kunai that hovered there.

 _What the fuck have I done?_

I'd just fought Kakashi Hatake. I'd just tried to get the bells off of him. I'd very almost taken them for myself.

 _Oh god._

 _I think I'm going to be sick._

The alarm signaling noon went off and Kakashi's clone that stood behind me, threatening my life, poofed into non-existence.

* * *

"You should all quit being ninjas."

Naruto, who was tied to the tree stump, immediately started thrashing about and screeching obscenities mixed with questions at the man standing before us. Sasuke took the subtle approach, fists clenching and gaze turning positively murderous. I was torn between openly accepting his offer and leaving the training ground immediately or staying silent and continuing to suppress my gag reflex.

It didn't help that food was right in front of us, my stomach twisting and turning in disapproval.

Kakashi proceeded to lecture us on the importance of teamwork, thoroughly digging a sense of shame into Naruto and disappointment into Sasuke. He probably criticized my own actions too but the words passed right through me, ignored in favour of the growing faintness in my head.

Only when he disappeared did I dare to do anything, pushing my lunchbox across the ground away from me. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at this, eyebrows furrowing in thought. "Here," he then said eventually, passing his food towards Naruto. The blonde immediately began to protest, though cut off when his stomach growled embarrassingly loudly. "If you don't eat then you'll be weak against him and drag us all down. You too," he added, shooting another look over at me.

 _Is that sympathy hidden within scathing words? My, I didn't think Sasuke was capable of that._ "I ate breakfast so I think I can handle not eating for a little while still, _thanks,"_ I muttered somewhat scathingly. The way his eyes widened comically in tandem with Naruto almost made me laugh. "You guys seriously didn't eat anything this morning? Are you actual _idiots?_ "

"Kakashi-sensei told us not to though!" The ever trusting orange monster looked somewhat horrified by my complete disregard for what Kakashi had told us.

"You took the advice of a guy who wouldn't tell you anything about himself but would happily say that the only thing eating breakfast would bring us was vomit, not the energy to properly fight him?"

Naruto suddenly flushed red in embarrassment at the blinding flaw in his acceptance of Kakashi's words. Sasuke instead showed his mortification by snapping his gaze away from us and grumbling for the blonde to eat up already. Laughter and bile threatened to rise up my throat again at the sight.

Kakashi's abrupt appearance with what sounded like crashing thunder surprised me so much that, halfway through snatching up a handful of shuriken, I doubled over, clutching at my stomach and mouth. " _ **You guys…"**_ He growled, clouds swirling above us and firing lightning off at random angles. "Pass~!"

"...Huh?" Naruto, who earlier had been close to crapping himself in fear, stared at the jōnin, his only other male teammate doing the same after shooting a questioning look at why I looked so close to death.

To be fair, I was asking myself the same question. It wasn't like I hadn't been expecting Kakashi to turn up all guns metaphorically blazing. Then again, there was a difference between knowing something and actually feeling it. His chakra had been practically oppressive even to me, a novice chakra sensory ninja.

"You're the first ones to have disobeyed me," Kakashi informed us, gaze flicking briefly to me as I unfurled from my defensive position. "No one else ever tried to help their teammates even though it was obvious they wouldn't succeed together otherwise. You three broke the rules for the good of your team despite knowing you would be punished." A smile formed underneath his mask, a real one. "Those who break the rules are trash but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

His famous line managed to get Naruto to regard him with awe and Sasuke respect, however, I instead felt a shiver running up my spine. To throw away all sense of self-preservation to save your fellow Konoha-nin was basically what he was telling us. In theory, many would agree with that philosophy. Everyone liked to think that when push came to shove they'd sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the group.

In practice, survival instincts would kick in and you'd do anything to carry on living in a fear-driven frenzy.

Teaching us to fight against that primal instinct felt...wrong. Dangerous. I remembered reading the Art of War many, many years ago. When you needed people to fight with power they didn't know they had, you needed to make them believe they were to die if they didn't win. That desperation pushed people to fight with ferocity they were unaware of being capable of, skill they'd never tapped into before.

If Konoha-nin, however, fought not for themselves but for others, what desperation-driven power were we losing? The fear of the deaths of others in my view was less than the fear of death for yourself. And what about the last man standing? Would his power be less because those he meant to protect were dead? Would his power be less because he'd realize this philosophy of saving others without regard for your own life meant deaths that could've been avoided?

Beyond that, how many missions had resulted in failure because they'd put the lives of their comrades above the success of their task? How had they compromised the safety of their village just to save the few? How many ninjas whose lives were more important than those they were saving - since let's face it, in a situation with a genin and jōnin where only one could survive, the jōnin's life held greater value - had been lost to meaningless death? Their names engraved on the memorial stone our teacher had shown to us?

Fundamentally, the system Kakashi was proposing we follow was flawed. In a perfect world perhaps it would work. Then again, in a perfect world, there would be no need for ninjas.

"Well then." Kakashi clapped his hands, bringing me out of my internal critique of the saying he followed religiously. "That concludes our little test. Team seven will begin its duties tomorrow. See you then!" Waggling his fingers in goodbye, he poofed away.

* * *

There were a few reasons as to why Hiruzen Sarutobi would leave the Hokage tower. The first was for events. The second to visit his family. The third for business. And, lastly, the fourth was for Kakashi Hatake.

This final reason was the explanation for why he was currently striding quickly through the corridors of the Konoha hospital, smiling at those who were getting a heart attack from seeing their Hokage suddenly walking by whilst internally thinking up every punishment he could inflict upon the jōnin.

Kakashi Hatake had been supposed to report to him on the conclusions of the test he'd put his new team through hours earlier. Of course, the man being late was inherently a normal occasion and Sarutobi had accepted this years ago.

But this report happened to firstly about his late predecessor's son and jinchuuriki of the nine tailed fox alongside the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan massacre. So Sarutobi had run out of all the patience he had to give to Kakashi when he'd discovered that he wasn't just running late but had been spotted flirting with nurses at the hospital instead of giving him the _god damn politically sensitive report._

A head nurse was leading the way for the Hokage, unperturbed by his presence behind her. She was after all used to this by now, having almost spent her entire medical career doing this at least once a month. Kakashi was notorious for playing hooky at the hospital with the excuse of an injury that wasn't nearly serious enough to warrant so much time wasted.

Sliding open a door with a bang, the female nurse inside squeaked at the stony expression of her boss, hands flying off her patient's shoulder and running out with excuses flying behind her. Said patient turned to face the head nurse, smiling lazily at the woman. "Hello Ruriko, how nice to see you again."

"You have a visitor." She told him stonily, stepping to the side to reveal the third Hokage.

"...Ah."

"'Ah' indeed." Sarutobi stepped into the room, shooting a warning glare at Kakashi when he seemed to wonder whether escaping out the window was a good idea. Ruriko politely closed the door behind him, bowing respectfully as she did so. "You were meant to be in my office three hours ago."

"I hurt myself."

The older man raised his eyebrow. " _Really_ now? And lord give me strength if you show me a papercut," he added as Kakashi raised his left arm.

It then bent backwards halfway up his forearm at an unnatural angle.

A beat of silence.

"...I told you I hurt myself." Kakashi had a tinge of smugness to his tone as Sarutobi sat down in the nearby chair and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"How in god's name did you manage to do that, Kakashi Hatake?" He asked slowly, not sure if he really wanted to know.

"During my testing of my new cute genin students. It was a good attack too." The jōnin hummed, regarding his arm as though it were a piece of fascinating art. "If I hadn't been paying more attention they might've fractured it. Instead, they broke through it cleanly, just like that."

Sarutobi leant back in his chair, eyes widening a little in surprise. "Your students- you mean to say Sasuke Uchiha did this? He was the best of his class but I never thought he'd-"

"Nope, it wasn't him." Kakashi let his arm flop back to a more natural position. "You have two guesses left."

Normally, the Hokage would've glared at him for that comment but he was too taken aback by this new information to do so. "Naruto did that to you? His learning of the shadow clone jutsu was impressive, however, Kakashi, that is far too great a leap in his own skill to be possible-"

"It wasn't him either."

There was another beat of silence. Sarutobi stared at the jōnin, torn between saying he didn't believe a word that was coming out of his mouth and accepting the proof of Kakashi's arm for it to be the truth. "...You had better not be lying to me, Hatake."

"I'm being entirely serious," Kakashi replied, easy-going smile dropping and visible eye narrowing in a show of evidence for the truth held in his words.

"The Haruno girl broke your arm." He said aloud, hoping it would sound less ridiculous if he heard it from his own ears.

It didn't.

Sarutobi could distinctly feel the sensation of a headache coming on, one which he'd never anticipated having.

* * *

That night a bird tapped on my window. I took a break from lying down on my bed and internally screaming to let it in, a note being deposited on my desk.

 _Meet outside the Hokage tower at seven hundred hours. Those who late have to take on an extra D-rank mission._

 _Love,_

 _Your new amazing teacher_

I practically fell to my knees, relief overcoming me. _It was all okay._ Maybe Kakashi hadn't read my files that carefully and didn't know I wasn't meant to be able to do so well against him. Tomorrow I was going to get to the meeting point and I'd do a D-rank mission with the rest of my team. I'd have to change my plan in order to escape from Konoha now Naruto was on my team, but it was still possible.

 _I'll get out of here,_ I thought with shuddering breaths, clutching the note with shaking fingers. _It'll be okay._

 _It'll all be okay._

* * *

I turned up the next day right on time. Really, I should've been late like yesterday since I doubted Kakashi would show up at the appointed time, but I preferred the idea of snarking at Naruto and Sasuke to staying at home where my earlier expelled fears might come back to bite me.

The streets were still fairly empty at seven in the morning. The Academy didn't start until eight and everyone worked around such timing, so only a few shops and stalls had opened up. Not even the mission office started at seven, waiting until half past before officially opening up. That way those with children wouldn't miss out on all the good missions because they were taking them to school.

My first inkling that something was wrong should've been when I reached the meeting point and none of my teammates were there. I imagined from Naruto's excitement yesterday that he'd have gotten there early, all hyped up from the prospect of going on our first meeting. Sasuke was also like a slick oiled machine when it came to timings; the model ninja our teachers at the academy so often praised him as. He would have gotten there at seven on the dot, all ready to start glaring at Naruto and me.

I ignored it though, instead only feeling the drop in my stomach when Kakashi arrived. Less than a minute late. Arm in a sling.

I very almost ran. I was prepared for the mission and had brought weapons to use if necessary. My chakra supply was full. He was still around fifty metres away, enough for a noticeable head start.

The village gate was on the other side of the village though and I was without the cover of civilians for at least another fifteen minutes. I also doubted I could ultimately outrun him even if I had that advantage.

I felt my eyes tearing up a little.

 _I'm so stupid._

 _Of course, he'd read my file. I'm so average anyway that it's kind of noticeable. Oh god, what have you done, Sakura Haruno? Why couldn't you just keep a lid on your anger for one more day?_

 _Why did you have to be so stupid?_

Kakashi stopped in front of me, not saying anything for a couple of seconds. "...I suppose you understand the situation then, judging from your expression."

I didn't say anything. I didn't trust my voice to come out level and cause the tears to start running.

 _Stupid, stupid, stupid._

He placed his hand on my shoulder and I flinched the barest amount before letting it rest there and turn me towards the tower entrance. "Let's go. The Hokage doesn't like to be kept waiting."

* * *

 **Edit: Changed it so Sakura didn't hand over her lunch so easily to Naruto. Kakashi says all three of them broke the rules however as Sakura at no point told Sasuke not to give Naruto his lunch. Had she made a fuss about it Kakashi _might_ not have passed them (though she had just broken his arm so he would tend towards passing her for that alone) but she did not realize her passiveness in allowing Sasuke to break the rules would make her seem as though she agreed with his choice. **

**Also, reminder that Kakashi was NOT going seriously against Sakura at all. Her breaking his arm was a mixture of luck and severe underestimation. She also doesn't have the same ability as Tsunade although I'll explain that more next chapter :)**

 **And the Hokage's surprise at Sakura breaking Kakashi's arm wasn't anything stupidly sexist _of course,_ more like 'what the fuck isn't she meant to be Average McNormal _what the fuck_?'**

 **Review question:**

 **What jutsu would you use the most in the Naruto universe?**

 **I'd probably use the substitution jutsu all the time because then I really can just tuck and roll out of situations lmao**


	8. Never fear

_Keizoku wa chikara nari._

" _To continue is power."_

 _Persevere_ _and never fear._

* * *

We'd gone on a trip to the Hokage tower once before during the Academy years. We'd seen the mission base and saw how they distributed tasks to different ranked ninja. Our guides had taught us about the importance of the chūnin secretaries to the Hokage and how our school being situated so closely to the tower was vital to our safety.

The highlight of the trip for my class had been most definitely our visit to the Hokage's office. We'd been separated into groups and gone in together, tiny bodies crammed into the room and large, curious eyes fixated on our leader who sat behind his desk with a wrinkly smile. I remembered how Ami had elbowed her way to the front of the group, snapping at me to follow. I'd gone against her orders and stayed firmly at the back where most of the clan kids and Naruto were. They'd all been there before with their families and Naruto had seen it even more often than them, practically bored stiff by the whole trip.

" _He's just an old man._ " The blond had scoffed, Kiba laughing at his comment and Shikamaru drawling that the Hokage technically wasn't just an _'old man'._

I'd agreed silently, keeping my head down so I was as unnoticeable as possible.

Now, older and possibly even more terrified, I stood right in front of the Hokage's desk, the great man himself with a pipe in his hand and wrinkled eyes narrowed. Kakashi still had his hand on my shoulder, it acting as both a reassurance that I wasn't about to be straight up _murdered_ and a reminder than I couldn't run away.

Sarutobi took a drag of his pipe, smoke billowing from his mouth as he breathed out. On his desk I could see my file, picture neatly attached to the documents with a paperclip. It had been taken just after I'd passed the graduation exam, green eyes staring straight ahead and lips pressed together in a solemn expression.

"So you're Sakura Haruno." He didn't speak as softly as Kakashi had to me, voice gruff and serious. Placing his pipe carefully down onto his desk, he leant forwards and pressed his fingers together into a steeple. "I am sure you understand why are you are here but, for the sake of professionalism, I will state it. Yesterday, whilst being examined by your jōnin teacher Kakashi Hatake, you displayed skill that is far beyond the capabilities you portrayed at the Academy. You even managed to break his arm."

I couldn't stop my reaction. My head, that had been lowered so I wouldn't have to look into the Hokage's eyes, snapped upwards, turning to look at Kakashi's sling.

 _What the hell?_

 _I...I did that?_

"You didn't know you had broken it?" Sarutobi demanded my attention and my gaze slipped to him, eyes wide and lips quivering a little.

"No, I- I didn't mean to- I didn't think I...how could I…?"

"You concentrated your chakra into your foot and extended it, almost like a spike," Kakashi told me, frowning a little. "It cut through the bone cleanly."

My mouth had dropped open. I knew I had pooled my chakra into my foot, more than what in retrospect had been needed, but-

 _Dig in._

Realization hit. A memory of my commanding my chakra, wanting it to cause as much damage as possible, arose in my mind. And maybe it was just a figment of my imagination but I remembered feeling my chakra stretch, forming something like the end of a screwdriver.

 _Oh my god._

"If I hadn't been using more power in my fight against Sasuke, I wouldn't have been able to defend against it at all." Kakashi continued, seeing the spark of realization as to what I'd done in my eyes. "That kind of chakra control is not something I'd expect from a genin. The chakra thread you formed was also rather impressive."

"My chakra control is just above average!" I blurted out without thinking.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow. "It says on your report it is simply average. Not good enough for tree-walking either."

I tensed, horrified by my slip up. "Chakra control perhaps isn't the right word though." Kakashi interrupted my state of horror, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Chakra manipulation fits your ability better. Your efficiency with your substitutions was only edging the top genin, lower chunin range."

My mind was spinning. _Chakra manipulation?_ I'd been speaking the truth earlier that my chakra control was just better than the average genin. It hadn't been hard to feign that it was a little less than that simply because being that efficient at jutsus was _difficult._ But manipulation…

It made a disturbing amount of sense. I could _feel_ my chakra, constantly. I'd had to manipulate it consciously in order to keep up with my classmates' unconscious enhancing of their muscles. Moving it around my body now was just second nature. A mere thought would send it in the right direction.

 _No wonder I was able to do so well against Kakashi then,_ I thought, pieces slipping into place. My taijutsu had been backed up by conscious chakra enhancement. That meant, at least theoretically, I could do better than Sasuke because he couldn't alter his strength like that. The power of his attacks was set. I could slide the strength levels around at ease.

"Your strategical skills are also higher than what your teachers placed them as." The Hokage brought me out of the safety of my mind, chills shooting up my nerves. "In your test against Kakashi you used the substitution jutsu with finesse unbecoming of most genin."

To me, my use of the substitution jutsu had been obvious. It was a basic technique and dismissed because of that label despite its undeniable strength. Switching places with a more strategically placed object seemed like common sense for someone who years ago had been in a world with entirely different rules. Imagine if my past universe had access to such a jutsu? Armies would milk it for all it's worth! Thieves could make fortunes! Trading would be revolutionized!

To anyone else it wasn't that big a deal, easily forgotten because substitution? Oh _please_ , we can travel large distances in seconds with the body flicker jutsu!

Sarutobi stared down at me. "All of your stats bar that of your taijutsu skill are noticeably lower than what Kakashi observed them to be. He even stated you initially did not seem to want to put forth any effort, a statement your former teacher declared couldn't be true."

 _Oh Iruka._ Of course he'd say I worked hard. I'd been interested in his lessons, visibly so, but not for the reasons that were obvious. He'd probably described me as an honest, nice student. Completely contradicting the impression I'd given to Kakashi.

 _I've really, really been so stupid._

"Since you are young and your background clearly shows you are not a spy, I am willing to accept an excuse as to why you have purposefully shown a version of yourself to your prior teachers that is less skilled than you really are. That is, as long as that excuse isn't a sudden growth in your ability between now and your graduation as I am not inclined to believe it, Sakura Haruno." He finished, destroying the mirage of a forgiving grandfather his earlier sentence had given.

I felt as though a rock had been lodged in my throat.

Kakashi's hand was now burning on my shoulder and the headband on my arm felt heavy. I had to give a reason, something believable. But what was there other than the truth? My eyes were beginning to tear up again, fear creeping up my spine and holding a kunai to my neck. If I didn't tell the truth and he didn't accept it, what would happen?

Would I be handed to a Yamanaka? Would they be ordered to forage through my mind, to tear their way through memories that shouldn't exist, couldn't exist, until they found the reason for why I'd lied like this?

Terror squeezed my heart at the thought. I didn't want my mind to be searched through against my will. Would it hurt? No, the pain didn't matter so much as the idea itself. It was my brain, my mind. Something in my previous life that had been personal and never seen or fully understood by anyone else. To have someone I didn't know forcefully pushing their way in made me want to be sick.

 _Don't do that to me._

 _Anything but that._

 _I'm just-_

" _Scared_." The word came out of my mouth as a whisper and the two men looked at me questioning, expectantly. Tears were teetering on the edges of my eyes and my head was blank, white noise blaring in my ears. _Say it. Say something. Do it, do it, doitdoitdoit._ "I was scared." My voice was a choking mess, air barely making it to my lungs. "I didn't want to be a ninja. So many people die and there- there are so many _wars_ and I didn't want to _**die**_. And it's like no one even realizes or notices people out there are going to kill them one day and when a kid says they want to become a ninja everyone just smiles like it's _normal_ and it's just- _ninjas don't get old, they die protecting a village that sent them out there to die and I just wanted to live without constantly fearing for the day someone kills me for no fucking reason other than I'm alive!_ "

I took a gasping, angry breath, crying so that my tears made spots on the carpet covering the floor. The silence that followed my messy flood of words only made it worse and I wiped my face with my arm, snapping my head up with the intention of glaring defiantly into the Hokage's eyes.

He looked...tired. An old man as Naruto had described him sat there, wrinkled and worn by the years. Sarutobi met my gaze as he leant back in his chair, staring thoughtfully at this little, young genin who had pretty much claimed he was sending all the ninjas working under him to their deaths.

"...I suppose then your plan was to gain some skill as a ninja of Konoha and then leave once you deemed yourself ready to live outside the village?" His voice was still gruff although it was a little slower now, softer. I nodded, feeling in the back of my mind a sense of embarrassment at how violently I had moved my head in petty anger. He closed his eyes. "It is lucky then you were caught now rather than later. Even if you had retired from duty legitimately, you would've been watched for a while after leaving the village, just to be safe. And, if it had been found you were more skilled than you had let on, you would have been labelled as a traitor to Konoha."

Somehow I found myself unsurprised by this information despite it undermining the plan I had worked so hard on. Maybe I'd been ignoring it unconsciously, clinging to the hope I could escape.

A sense of calm began to wash over me, mingling with the hopelessness that refused to leave.

"Since you had yet to perform any missions, you have caused no harm to the village by restraining your abilities." The Hokage opened his eyes, all seriousness and business again. "From now on, I expect that you will not hide any of your skill from your superiors. To do otherwise would be considered a crime against the village and no such leniency like today will be present. Remember that you are a ninja of Konohagakure and you have sworn an oath of duty to the village and people within it."

The feeling of acute shame hit me even though I had little to no sense of patriotism and I had to force myself not to break eye-contact with him.

"A field promotion was discussed due to Kakashi's observations of you although we had already decided you were not ready for that even before this meeting. No punishment will be administered either. You are both dismissed."

Kakashi nodded, turning me towards the door and marching me out of the office, out of the tower. The meeting hadn't been long so there weren't many people I had to feel conscious of seeing my tear-stained face. None of them who were there stared at me either and I suspected the jōnin leading me out was the reason for this. I wiped my face again anyway, pulling my hood up to further hide all evidence of me having cried.

"Now then." My teacher finally spoke up. I wondered whether he felt awkward. I sure as hell did. Crying my eyes out in front of both the Hokage and him wasn't something I'd particularly planned on doing, ever. "Naruto and Sasuke will be arriving at eight and I was planning on getting there for nine, so why don't we get something to eat? My treat."

I peered up at him past the rim of my hood. His eye was shut and his mouth curved into a smile underneath his mask. The hand that had gripped onto my shoulder earlier was now lightly resting on it, a sign that he was no longer going to stop me from leaving if I wanted to.

I considered my options. Either I could go home and face explaining to my parents why I was red-eyed and miserable or I could get free food and laugh at Naruto and Sasuke's anger when we arrived at the meeting point late.

"...I want dango."

Kakashi's smile grew a little wider. "Dango it is then."

* * *

There were a few things I expected to happen when Kakashi invited me out to eat with him. Firstly, he was probably going to ask me about what the hell had happened in the Hokage's office. After that, he was going to question me on my thusly named 'chakra manipulation'.

So, when he was ordering for me (he was paying after all), I was more than surprised when a very familiar looking woman slid onto the bench beside me and grinned at my teacher.

"Oh, if it isn't Kakashi Hatake." Anko Mitarashi looked as though she was a cat that had just found a bowl of milk. "Accompanied by a young girl who seems as though she was just crying, my, my, what a _scandal~_!" Before Kakashi could say anything, Anko placed her elbow down on the table, turning to face me. "Did he do anything, little girl? Auntie Anko can beat him up if you want." Again, she didn't allow for me to speak, dango stick rolling over her lips. "Honestly, I thought you were above picking up minors, _Ka-ka-shi_."

Her insinuation broke my silence and I snorted. "Like I'd let an old man pick me up."

Kakashi put his hand to his chest in mock horror. "First of all, I am offended that you think I'm _old_ , Sakura-"

Anko cut him off, cackling loudly and swinging an arm across my shoulders. "What a student you've grabbed! I like kids with spunk. Can I steal her?" She pouted, fluttering her eyelashes and pulling me closer to her chest.

The jōnin smiled. "Nope."

"Aw, come on, you're no fun!" Anko released me with a huff, the grin from earlier quickly returning. "Then again, a little birdie told me that a student of yours did quite the number on your arm. Put it here girl!" She raised her hand for a high-five. When I didn't lift my own, she grabbed my wrist and slapped my hand against it herself.

I stared in slight horror at my stinging red palm when she let go of me, Kakashi placing his elbow down onto the table and leaning slightly towards the woman. "Oh? And what little birdie would that be?"

Anko stretched her arm behind her, swiping a dango stick from another customer and replacing it with an empty one. The man looked down in surprise after realizing his food had suddenly disappeared, a passing waiter glancing in despair at the kunoichi. "Ifuka af coawse." Anko spoke with her mouth full, ignoring the disgusted look Kakashi was shooting at her. She swallowed it down loudly. "He was all freaking out about how the Hokage suddenly turned up after school hours in his classroom and demanded information about one of his beloved ex-students. Honestly, I offered to spend the night with him to ease his worries but he didn't even seem to _hear_ me-"

Kakashi cut her off with a none-too-discreet cough, gaze flicking over to me. I resisted the urge to remark he could hardly act that way after reading _porn_ in front of my teammates and I yesterday.

The woman rolled her eyes. "Oops, sorry, I asked if he wanted to have _sex_ with me- what the hell is that look for?!" She demanded when Kakashi sighed in defeat. "Anyway, it was easy to find out about your arm after asking a few questions. By the way, Otoha was asking after you yesterday, all love hearts in her eyes. She's pretty hot so _nice one_." Anko winked and shot him the thumbs up.

My teacher looked close to losing the will to live. "Can we please not discuss this in front of my _student_?"

" _Prude_." She scoffed just as the dango Kakashi had ordered arrived, picking up a stick and waving as she stood up to leave. "Anyway, when you're bored with this old man, just ask to work with me, Auntie Anko. Catch you later!" Bounding away, I was left in silence with the 'old man'.

"...Otoha, huh?" I then began, unable to resist.

"She's a nurse from the hospital and I am not discussing this with you, Sakura," Kakashi said firmly, waving a waiter over and pointing at Anko's disappearing form. Clearly she'd swiped dango so often from other customers that the staff was used to it, the man apologizing and explaining he'd get some more, on the house. "Also, for the love of god, do _not_ take that woman up on her offer."

I nodded at that. Anko was not someone I'd ever intended to affiliate myself with. Someone who had spent that much time with Orochimaru had to be anything _but_ sane. Picking up one of the remaining sticks of dango, I bit into the first sweet dumpling. The taste of it was good enough that I suddenly understood why Anko was stealing them from everyone.

Kakashi didn't move to take any of the sticks of pure _deliciousness._ I didn't really expect that he would. I got the impression he wanted to frustrate his team by never revealing his face to them in the canon and I doubted I would change that goal of his.

After I'd gotten through three sticks he finally raised his voice, arms crossed and eye carefully reading my expression. "Feeling better?"

Pausing in my reach for the fourth stick, I hesitated before answering. "...Yeah. Thank you," I added as an afterthought, grabbing the stick and stuffing a dumpling into my mouth before I could feel embarrassed or awkward.

"I'm your teacher. It's my job to take care of my cute students." He replied, smiling. "And that includes not letting any of you die too."

The embarrassment seeped into me but it was accompanied by a sense of relief. Safety.

Kakashi Hatake, the strongest jōnin in Konoha, had just said he wouldn't let me die. I didn't know if there was anything that could possibly be _as_ reassuring as that fact.

Still. There was fear that couldn't be erased even by that. I doubted it would ever disappear, even if I managed to live through what was coming.

"You do however need to be prepared for becoming a chūnin in the new future." Kakashi popped my thoughts like they were bubbles, continuing to carefully gauge my reaction. "The Hokage has agreed to delay your promotion on the account that you lack the experience and knowledge a chūnin should have. Skill wise though, you have already reached that level, and the higher up you are the closer an eye people can keep on you."

For a moment I wondered why the man was being so informative. It was one thing reassuring his student, that I could understand, but telling me all of this?

 _Ah._

I remembered. Kakashi had become a chūnin at the age of six. He'd gone down the route than many child prodigies did, climbing up the ranks quickly and following the trend of an unstable mind that his fellow genii did also.

"Am I a prodigy?" I asked without really thinking, actually having only meant to internally contemplate the question. I'd never thought of myself fitting in that bracket. Sure, I was smarter than people my age usually were. Aside from that though, I'd never really considered myself to be 'special'. The original Sakura hadn't been a prodigy, just smart like I was. I assumed as a result I didn't count as one of the genius ninjas. Nothing extraordinary. Good, but not _that_ good.

Kakashi thought for a moment before replying. "If you hadn't pretended to be worse than you were, I believe you would've graduated the academy earlier than you did."

Oh.

That explained Kakashi's willingness to talk then.

If he believed that I was a prodigy then I could easily in response believe he would do all in his power to stop me from ending up like him. Prodigies in the ninja world never ended up happily. _At least,_ I imagined him thinking, _at least she knows this world isn't kind already._

At my silence, Kakashi leant over and ruffled my hair. "Don't worry, your amazing _teacher_ will teach you all the things you need to know about being a chuūnin. Maybe if we're lucky Sasuke and Naruto might make the cut for it too."

"If we're _very_ lucky," I muttered.

His eye crinkled when he smiled.

* * *

"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto hollered as Kakashi and I approached the Hokage tower, the orange terror stood at least two metres away from the brooding Sasuke.

"Sorry, I had to save a poor dog from drowning and then it's owner insisted they treat me to dango." The jōnin ignored the stunned look on his students' faces at his blatant lie.

"What a coincidence, the exact same thing happened to me," I muttered under my breath, Naruto just about hearing it and acquiring a look of horror.

"Not you too, Sakura-chan! You can't pick up his bad habits- WHOA, KAKASHI-SENSEI, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR ARM?!" The _ever observant_ blond gawked at the sling.

Kakashi shrugged. "I fell out of bed."

"How do you fall out of bed hard enough to do that?!"

"I'm very talented."

Sasuke didn't look like he believed Kakashi for a second but didn't engage him in a one-sided screaming match like his teammate. Instead he glanced towards Kakashi's sling and me, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. I wasn't beyond believing Sasuke remembered how I'd kicked the jōnin yesterday in the exact same arm, although I pretended not to notice the look he was giving me. He might challenge me to a fight if I confirmed his suspicions after all.

Naruto clearly wasn't finished with his interrogation of how Kakashi had broken his arm but our teacher walked away from the blond anyway, gesturing for us to follow him. It had passed nine o'clock when we'd arrived so the mission control base was fully up and running, desks manned by chūnins who passed out scrolls to waiting ninjas. Aside from Kakashi, I couldn't see any other notable jōnins. They'd probably arrived earlier to get their missions that were of higher importance or were briefed elsewhere.

Then I'd seen Anko leaning against a pillar and talking with what looked like a chūnin. She noticed me staring at her and waved. Naruto brushed past my arm, noticing how I'd faintly waved back. "Hey, hey, who is that, Sakura-chan? She looks cool!" He gushed, waving to the woman as well. Anko looked _highly_ amused.

"Keep your head in the game, Naruto!" Kakashi called from in front of us, sparing me from answering. Sasuke shot me another accusatory glare.

 _Oh god, save me from overly-curious fellow genin._

There had been a queue to the main desk but Kakashi bypassed it without so much of a peep from those who had been waiting in line. Neither Naruto or Sasuke questioned this, probably feeling they themselves deserved this privilege. There was a large gap between the front of the queue and the desk to allow some privacy for those receiving missions and we slipped into this place, Kakashi stood slightly in front of us. "Team seven reporting for duty." He drawled.

"Believe it!" Naruto added with a fist pump.

Iruka, who was sat at the desk beside the Hokage, looked like he wanted to strangle the boy. One glance at me stopped him from doing so, relief shining in his eyes. I was glad he was looking at me. It meant I didn't have to direct my gaze towards the Hokage, whose eyes I could feel burning a hole into my forehead.

Sarutobi hummed thoughtfully, picking up a section of the D-rank mission scroll. "Hmmm...you can take either fruit picking or delivering duty."

Kakashi turned to face us. "Well, what do you think, team?"

Naruto scowled. "Neither! Give us a better selection that that, old man! Something exciting like saving a princess!" He shouted at the Hokage. Iruka very almost jumped out of his seat and smacked him over the head for his insolence.

Sasuke predictably didn't voice his own agreement with our outspoken teammate but folded his arms and adopted the usual 'I'm pissed off and this is bullshit' glare. "Fruit picking," I told Kakashi.

"My team has spoken." The jōnin declared cheerily, Iruka handing him the information scroll for the mission I'd chosen.

"Hey! I didn't choose any of them!"

Kakashi ignored him, spinning on his heel and heading for the exit. "Sakura-chan, why didn't you help tell the old man we deserved better than this!" Naruto whined as we followed, obviously having latched onto me as the only one in team seven who would reply to his complaints.

I didn't answer until we'd left the room inhabited by the Hokage, finally feeling able to breathe properly again. "Because fuck the princess."

" _Sakura-chan!"_

* * *

 **Firstly, sorry if I didn't get round to replying to you! Lots of people are coming round to see my house because my parents are trying to sell it so it's a little hectic in here...**

 **Secondly, Sakura is clearly not a spy. Her parents are very reputable individuals and she's never left Konoha before in her life. Besides, if she really was a sleeper agent, she wouldn't have blown her cover like she did. And her response was pretty genuine which someone who had earlier had been set off by a few comments courtesy of Kakashi couldn't fake.**

 **Not that she's going to be let off the hook easily at all but that's the reasoning behind why they didn't immediately lock her up and interrogate her with a Yamanaka.**

 **There's a scene I might add as an extra next chapter that I couldn't fit in without ruining the flow of the story which explains some of their meeting with Iruka too and a little more as to why they didn't jump the gun.**

 **ALSO this is the last chapter completely pre-written so updates might move a little slower - sorry!**

 **Review Question:**

 **Which jōnin would you want as your teacher?**

 **GAI OBVIOUSLY**

 **I'm half joking there but he'd probably be hella invested in any of my training and really help me out so I'm kinda inclined to want him or maybe Kurenai (because she's a sweetie).**


	9. Under a plum tree

**Note: There was a boom in reviews for the last chapter and I'm just about to head off to Scotland on holiday so I hope you guys don't mind that I couldn't do replies this time!**

* * *

 _Kaden rika_

" _Melon field, under a plum tree."_

 _Stepping into a melon field and under a plum tree gives off the impression you wish to steal the fruit so one must avoid such behaviour which causes a misunderstanding._

* * *

The mission I'd chosen on behalf of my teammates took us to a large orchard right on the edge of Konoha. There was various different produce growing there, vegetable and fruit amongst medicinal herbs of all things. Surprisingly, Kakashi hadn't abandoned us this minute we'd arrived, even going to the client to introduce us all.

Our client was a middle-aged man, skin tanned from working in the orchard every day. This clearly wasn't his first time hiring ninjas to help him out, greeting us with an apology for such a boring mission. In return, he promised that we could eat all the fruit we liked whilst working.

During our personal introductions of our names, I noticed his eyebrow arch at Naruto in a sense of realization, but if he had had any prejudice against the blond it was forgotten when I told him my name.

"Sakura Haruno? Oh, you must be Kizashi's daughter!" The man exclaimed, taking my hand and shaking it enthusiastically. Sasuke and Naruto's curiosity at the mention of my father almost made me laugh. It was painfully obvious they were now thinking Kizashi was some important official/ninja for him to be known. Kakashi looked equally amused, definitely knowing the truth of my _mysterious_ father's occupation. "He was always so _good_ to me and helped set up a deal with some other towns! I've been meaning to visit your father and meet you but we always missed each other."

"Yes, I think he's mentioned you before. Tatsuo-san, wasn't it? It's a pleasure to meet you too." I flashed a smile. It wouldn't do to ruin the relationship between my father and a prospective partner in business after all.

He went away a few minutes later, filled with careful flattery on my part and promising to come back later with something even nicer for us to have for lunch. Turning back to my team, I noticed Naruto gawking at me. "What?"

"Sakura-chan, you were so _nice_ to him!" He blurted out, astonished. "It was like you were a completely different person."

"...Wow. Thanks, Naruto."

"Wait, no, I didn't mean it like that-"

Kakashi cut him off with the shaking of his head. "So rude. You only have one Sakura on your team so don't bully her."

"I don't-"

"Anyway. I'll be over here contemplating the intricacies of life so you kids have fun picking fruit." Our teacher flicked out his _trash_ novel and sat down underneath one of the apple trees, shooing us away when we deadpanned at him.

"I can't believe we got a sensei like him." Naruto groaned, trudging off to the row of peach trees he'd been instructed to pick from. Sasuke seemed to silently agree but the expression showing his consensus with the blond quickly transformed into one of quiet hostility upon noticing I'd seen it. Eyes narrowing into a glower, he turned on his heel, heading towards his own appointed area.

Starting to walk up the first apple tree, I lapsed into my usual routine of inferring things about Konoha from the situation. From what Tatsuo had said it was natural to assume he rarely if ever hired civilians, only employing genin. It wasn't an unusual thing. Only the most simple of jobs would be made available to civilians because ninjas were so much cheaper and better at everything else.

For example, take this mission of fruit picking. A civilian could do this task adequately however it would be so much more inefficient and costly. Most genin knew how to walk up trees, expending less effort than civilians who would have to climb using their legs and hands. Our chakra reserves were also bigger, meaning we could go harder for longer. Consequently, we were cheap, getting a job that would take a civilian possibly a few days just a few hours.

This explained too why there weren't actually that many civilians builders around but quite a few architects. Genin only needed to be told where to carry things and what to do and it would take half the manpower and paycheck. It was no understatement when people said that genins were the backbone of our economy.

It wasn't until midday that I heard anything from the rest of my team. Kakashi's call for break was loud enough to be heard across the whole orchard and I wondered what trick he'd used to do that as I carried my basket full of apples down one of the trees at an awkward angle. The sight of my teammates created a bubble of amusement inside of me. The two boys were covered in dirt and leaves, both staring at how I looked as clean as when I'd started. I'd managed to collect more apples than their respective fruits too, Naruto begging me to tell him what jutsu I'd used.

Instead of answering, I'd stuffed myself with the apple crumble Tatsuo brought out for us. Kakashi did so too, all smiles and charm now that our client was around. "Lazy liar," Naruto grumbled when the client was out of earshot, then doing a double take when he saw me walking up the tree our teacher had been lying under. "Sakura-chan?!"

I turned my head around. "Yeah?"

"H-how are you doing that?!" He half shrieked, jabbing his finger in my direction. His yell was loud enough for Sasuke, who had started towards his area again, to turn and stare too.

I shrugged. "Very easily, actually."

Naruto continued to gawk as our teammate retraced his footsteps, standing underneath the tree too. "What jutsu are you using?" Sasuke demanded me to tell him albeit somewhat begrudgingly, clearly not liking that he had to ask me for something.

Honestly, his lack of knowledge about tree walking was surprising. He had to have seen Uchiha clan members using it when he was younger, hell, had he not seen ninjas just using it casually around the village? _Perhaps the former has something to do with trauma-induced memory loss,_ I wondered. "There's no jutsu," I informed him, truthfully.

"Then how are you doing that?" Naruto looked amazed. Clearly, he thought that jutsus were behind every trick ninjas used. How he had managed to even make it through the academy with such a mindset was boggling.

I shrugged again.

Sasuke's response: glare at me until I told him how. Naruto's response: furrow his brows and then, with a look of realization, run at the tree.

I couldn't stop the laughter that came when he took one step up it and fell back down to Earth. He hadn't even used any chakra! He'd literally just _ran_ at a tree and hoped against hope that it'd allow him to walk up it!

Naruto rolled across the ground, whining in pain. "Idiot," Sasuke scoffed, although I could see a smirk of amusement forming on his face.

"What did you call me, you bastard?!" Naruto roared, although the growing bump on his head made his words carry less weight.

"Oh my god, please try that again," I wheezed, hand having grabbed onto a branch in case I lost control of my chakra due to laughing too much. "I could watch that all day."

The blond scowled accusingly at me before falling into a sulk, muttering that he'd figure it out on his own then. As he got to his feet, Kakashi peered over the rim of his book. "The trick behind doing it is using chakra," he announced, Naruto immediately brightening up and Sasuke intrigued. "That's the only hint I'll give you."

"You're so stingy, Kakashi-sensei!" The blond huffed, sticking out his tongue although beaming as he ran off. Sasuke hesitated for a moment, waiting to see if our teacher really wouldn't give out any more information and leaving when he saw the man wouldn't.

"...Am I really that stingy, Sakura?" Kakashi asked, gaze flicking upwards to the branch I was now sitting on.

"Of course not."

He stared at me for a few moments longer before returning his attention to his book. "If you're going to lie like that then I'm definitely not treating you to food again."

I rolled my eyes, biting back another laugh as the memory of Naruto running at the tree and falling crossed once more through my mind.

* * *

Neither Naruto or Sasuke figured out how to tree walk that day. The former had various bumps on his head when he met up with us again to finish the mission, a smile of stubborn determination still fixed on his face though. Iruka shot him a concerned look when we returned to declare we'd completed the mission and then an even more worried one at Sasuke who was just as beat up. "Boys will be boys." Kakashi used as the excuse for their injuries, shaking his head and clicking his tongue.

I'd had to swallow the urge to smile.

The money we received for the mission wasn't much but I'd kept it scrunched in my hand all the way home regardless. In my original plan, I'd intended to save the money for when I moved out of Konoha and lived alone. Now that plan was destroyed I suddenly had this cash in my hands that could be used for anything I wanted (within reason that is). It was a strange feeling, having money I'd never intended to use straight away but could.

Of course, I decided to put most of it into a savings account in the end. Mebuki had fondly told me I was being very sensible doing so as the money coming from D-ranks would slowly add up to a tidy sum. She admitted that she hadn't been so responsible when she'd first become a genin. Then again, when she had been a genin, there had been a war going on and instant gratification was considered more highly as who knew when you'd die?

Once I was alone in my room, waiting for dinner to be finished, I was surprised when I didn't have an abrupt breakdown. So much had happened in just one day. I'd met with the Hokage, discovered I'd broken my own teacher's arm, cried my eyes out when telling them why I'd lied for so long, met Anko, found out I was basically a prodigy and done my first ever mission. The stress from the sheer amount of _stuff_ that had gone on was large enough so that I was certain when I was finally alone I'd sob my eyes out.

But I didn't.

I had to stay in Konoha. My plan was in pieces and couldn't be recovered. I was very likely to die in the near future because of my position on team seven. And yet it was okay. Maybe the hopelessness of the situation had just made me completely numb. It didn't really matter what the reason was behind why I wasn't screaming and sobbing my eyes out.

All that mattered was that now I had to adapt. Adapt and _live through this._

* * *

I woke up early the next morning, surrounding myself with notebooks in a ritual I hadn't done since learning the last few important concepts taught at the Academy. About a third of them were filled with English whilst the rest were completely written in Japanese and I flicked through them all, making notes on an empty piece of paper.

 _The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry_ was the famous saying but, despite this having become true of my initial plan to be unnoticeable, I needed a new one to cling to. It was an idea drilled into us by Iruka during our Academy days: in order to adapt to a situation successfully, one must have something to adapt from in the first place.

My main goal was still to survive and my position on team seven wouldn't change that for the world, nor would any of Naruto's idealistic speeches. But what was my best bet at that?

Realistically, I wouldn't be able to retire through legitimate means for another ten or so years. That is of course if I didn't injure myself beyond repair in some manner. Inflicting such a wound upon myself wasn't an option, however. Doing so was a serious crime against Konoha, worthy of the title of 'traitor' for anyone who committed it. Anyway, I was a coward. Physical pain _terrified_ me.

So. What could I do to live through those ten years and ensure I could retire then?

I couldn't cap my abilities that much if at all to convince people I wasn't needed by the village anymore. People in high up places were expecting me to grow in strength as a prodigy. Claiming that I'd 'burnt out' wouldn't be a viable excuse until I was around eighteen, especially with Kakashi as my teacher. I'd have to avoid becoming a jōnin at any cost too in order to not be seen as useful, which was surprisingly more of a concern I'd ever thought it'd be. Kakashi had told me I was already of chūnin level, comfortably enough so that a field promotion had almost been offered to me on the spot. The gap between chūnin and jōnin was big but my teacher had said that people wanted to keep an eye on me and the higher up rank wise I was, the easier that would be.

A quiet, awful thought crossed my mind as I flicked through one of my notebooks. If I...if I became _pregnant_ then…

Expecting mothers were given a free pass at retiring and weren't usually anticipated to return to service after giving birth either, no matter what their skill as a ninja. Logically speaking, if I chose this route then I'd aim to become pregnant at sixteen, meaning I'd only have to give up four years of service to Konoha before being able to leave. Naturally, I'd have to ensure I'd be a single mother to avoid anyone saying my partner could look after my child as I continued working as a ninja after the birth. Technically, this would be an extremely good deal for me, but-

 _The idea made my stomach churn in disgust._

I would honestly rather kill than bring life into this world (though perhaps that wasn't saying much because killing was a so much more comfortable thought than it had been before _Sakura._ Murder was not just an act perpetrated by insane, heinous villains, it was a valiant act of a hero serving their village. Death and victory had been inexplicably tied together in this world for quite some time now).

Putting aside the revulsion that came with the thought of me just being a _mother_ , the child would be born of only my desperate desire to run away from Konoha. How fucked up a reason was that? I couldn't- it was selfish and disgusting and my skin crawled at the fact I'd even considered it for a second.

Gripping the skin of my abdomen, I breathed out slowly, killing the thought. No. I wasn't ever going to do that despite its convenience. There were lines I couldn't bring myself to cross and that was one of them.

Releasing my stomach, my hand reached for another book of notes, flipping through the pages. The only option I could come up with that didn't make me feel violently ill was hiding in the shadow of the rookie nine's skills. Almost all of them were clan kids and had more than enough potential to become way stronger than me. It meant handing all control of my future over to them because I couldn't pretend to be weaker than I was but it was the best plan currently available.

The only other idea was somehow getting Naruto into power early as Hokage and manipulating him into letting me leave, which was too ridiculous a plot to envision coming true.

By the time the bare outline of my new plan was done, I was already late and set about putting the notebooks away, readying myself for my second mission as a Konoha-nin. In the end, I arrived at the appointed meeting spot an hour late, Naruto and Sasuke already there and running at the trees of training ground three. Predictably, Kakashi wasn't there yet.

Neither of my teammates had gotten more than a metre off the ground and I suspected even that didn't involve more chakra than it did sheer momentum. Both looked immensely frustrated by the fact they hadn't got a hang of it and were consequently oblivious to my arrival.

I didn't bother greeting them, instead diving into my usual sequence of stretches. The style of taijutsu I used depended on me being as flexible as possible in order to have any success. Specializing in taijutsu seemed to be the best option currently. My chakra manipulation slotted in better with that than the traditional ninjutsu specialist career. Besides, by not trying to learn flashy, impressive jutsu I would be able to focus on becoming an expert at the basics. They were, in my opinion, the most powerful arsenal I could have - I'd already proved that in my fight against Kakashi that had just used some well-timed substitutions.

Anyway, it would make me less noticeable a ninja to enemies. People pay attention to those creating dragons out of water, not the ones making clones out of it.

Halfway through doing the splits in a handstand, I saw the upside down form of Kakashi approaching. Before I could right myself, he casually performed a swooping kick, making me reflexively push off the ground and fall in an awkward heap. "Good morning my cute genin!" The man announced as I sat up, scowling at him.

"It's the afternoon!" Naruto, who had heard the greeting, spun round with a glower, blinking when he saw me. "Sakura-chan, when did you get here?!"

Standing up, I brushed the dirt off of my clothing. "Around when you started yelling at the tree to 'stop making this difficult for both of us'," I informed him with an irritated undertone, Sasuke having turned to see us too and seeming equally surprised by my presence before devolving into his usual scowl.

Naruto flushed at my reply, offering some excuse for why he'd been yelling at a tree that I didn't pay any attention to. Kakashi didn't seem to be paying any heed to the boy either, clapping his hands together. "Morning, afternoon, does the time really matter when your _amazing_ jōnin-sensei got you a very important mission?"

"Hmph, you probably got us a crap one like yesterday," Naruto muttered, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the man.

"Oh? Then perhaps I should tell the intelligence division that they should give this mission to another team…"

 _Hook, line and sinker._

"We'll take it, we'll take it!" Naruto became a ball of enthusiastic energy again, first pumping and grinning. He then abruptly stopped. "...What is this intelligence division by the way?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Idiot."

"OI!"

 _Intelligence division?_

I looked questioningly up at Kakashi only to find that my gaze was being ignored, the man seeming to be purposefully looking away from me. "Sakura, would you do the honours of explaining what exactly is the Konoha Intelligence Division?" The jōnin asked, Naruto snapping his head around to face me with honest curiosity.

"...They're a group of Konoha-nin that deal with acquiring information often vital to the village's safety." I answered after a moment's pause, slightly bewildered by the sudden request.

"An excellent, textbook answer. D for effort." Kakashi told me, patting my head patronizingly. "Now, Sasuke, explain how they acquire such intel."

Sasuke's eyes flickered between me and our teacher in a brief bout of confusion. "Through intelligence gathering missions."

"Impressively vague. An F for saying something mildly relevant." Kakashi gave a mini round of applause. It spoke volumes about Sasuke's self-control when he didn't immediately try to murder the man, instead falling back into his usual pissed off glower. "So, do you understand what it is the intelligence division is and does now, Naruto?"

The blond didn't look any less confused than he had earlier. "Uh, they're ninjas that just do stuff about information?"

"...Well done for even graduating the academy."

"Hey!" Naruto's insulted yelp was ignored, Kakashi gesturing us to follow as he began to walk away. "Ugh, what does it even matter if I don't know about that place? I'll find out when I get there anyway." He grumbled, falling into step with Sasuke and me as we strolled after our teacher.

I lapsed into my own thoughts as we walked, flicking my hood up and keeping my eyes on the ground. Something was off about this mission. As new genin we shouldn't even be granted access to the intelligence division's headquarters, especially not considering I had almost become a traitor to the village! Naruto had also just recently stolen a sacred scroll and, furthermore, Sasuke's brother _was_ classified as a traitor. Even if he was heralded as the last Uchiha clan member and practically a prodigy, people didn't forget about things like that. Letting us into a treasure trove of sensitive information was insanity!

Kakashi's influence in the village be damned, team seven couldn't be trusted to do our _second mission_ there!

I was still absorbed by my racing thoughts by the time we reached the building, finding somewhat hysterical amusement at the sight of a far too normal looking reception. "Ninja ID numbers please." A woman wearing a chūnin vest greeted us with the request. Mine rattled off my tongue easily, Sasuke doing the same and Naruto trudging through his own string of numbers with a look of intense concentration. "You too." The receptionist then added when Kakashi made no indication of saying his own.

The man's eye crinkled. "I forgot it."

She twitched. "Now listen here, Hatake, we both know very well you haven't just _forgotten it_. You pulled this same stunt only last week-"

"You finally made it!" A man with a face vaguely familiar to me approached with a clipboard tucked under one arm, the other used to wave in greeting. "We were kind of prepared for you to be late though. Shinobu Mibu, pleased to see you again, Hatake, and meet the rest of you. I'd introduce myself properly but we can't waste any more time." With a friendly smile, he beckoned for us to follow, the receptionist making a noise of protest as Kakashi twisted round to look at her.

"Oh-oh-nine-seven-two-oh."

The receptionist looked an inch away from chasing after our teacher and wringing his neck.

"Hatake, please don't torment the receptionist, we can't afford to look for another one." Shinobu sighed as though this were a usual occurrence, Kakashi as amused as ever.

We were led down a series of corridors, twisting this way and that. The place was probably built to be so confusing, it doing its job well according to Naruto's expression that screamed he was helplessly lost. Any intruders - or even escapees - would have difficulty finding anything specific without inside knowledge. It did mean departments were positioned in strange places, however; I'd seen at least three related storage areas situated inconveniently far from each other.

Once we'd reached a staircase, Shinobu began to brief us on our mission. "We need you to deliver some paperwork to the Hokage's tower."

Naruto made a face, side eyeing Kakashi. "I knew it, you _did_ get us a boring mission again." He muttered under his breath, Sasuke sharing the same sentiment and narrowing his eyes at the jōnin.

Shinobu laughed heartily at this as Kakashi placed his hand over his heart in mock offence - a gesture I could see was quickly becoming a habit when talking to our team. "Sorry, you won't get the glamorous missions _quite_ yet." Shinobu shot an apologetic smile at Naruto, the blond taken aback momentarily before returning his own toothy grin, rubbing his head sheepishly.

I felt an acute sense of relief. _It was only a delivery mission._ Now it made sense as to why genins were being made to do this. We weren't going to be spending long in the intelligence division and it wasn't even that important a mission. My muscles, which I hadn't known were tensed, relaxed.

At the bottom of the staircase, we were taken through a corridor with various doors running along the opposite walls, a lot of them open much unlike upstairs where everything was closed off and out of sight. I glanced into one of them briefly, a seed of confusion sprouting in my mind, and saw a table with various metal tools glinting in the dim light-

I snapped my gaze forwards, fast.

 _Konoha Torture and Interrogation Force._

 _Fuck._

My eyes flicked towards another room much against my better judgement. The door was only slightly ajar this time but I could see a dark stain on the floor that had yet to be clean away. We stopped outside the third room I turned to look into, Shinobu entering through the door on the other side of the wall and declaring he would return momentarily. There were people inside that one, someone sat in the centre of the floor with arms restrained. A woman with the telltale clear eyes of a Yamanaka clan member stood in front of them, hand outstretched and placed onto the person's forehead.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are they doing?" Naruto, who I hadn't noticed also peering round the doorway (but far less subtle about it than I was), asked with large, curious eyes.

The jōnin was looking right at me, a flicker of an unreadable emotion passing through his one visible eye. "They're reading someone's mind for information."

I felt like the walls were closing in on me, suddenly seeing a vision of myself in the chair instead and a hand being pressed to my skin, mind ripped open and laid out bare for all to see. Naruto had said something along the lines of the ability to read minds being really cool though I barely heard it, too caught up in my own thoughts of terror. It was only when Shinobu returned and handed me a handful scrolls to deliver that did I realize what was going on.

It was a threat. So cleanly executed that I had very nearly missed it.

 _Betray us and this will happen._

It was possible I was overthinking this, that I was placing more importance on myself now than was actually true. It could be by mere chance we were given a mission to the Konoha's T and I division. Maybe it was just accidental that all the right doors that would allow me to see the things leading me to hear this horrifying warning. A result of my own self-imposed paranoia and belief those higher up were pushing people to their deaths. Perhaps it was coincidence Shinobu had stopped us right outside where someone was forcibly having information drawn from their mind. It could even be a practice drill; they wouldn't just leave the door wide open if it was an actual prisoner they were drawing information out of, would they?

 _But wasn't that all the more terrifying? That this could all be done with such potential innocence?_

When Shinobu led us out, I no longer saw his smile as genuine friendliness. Instead, there were hints of careful, calculated planning and eyes hardened from working in a department where you would do _anything_ to get the information you were told to get.

"Hey, hey, Kakashi-sensei, can you teach me how to read minds?" Naruto asked once we were outside, clearly enamoured with the idea.

A hand fell onto my shoulder in a deceptively casual way, steadying me. "You'll have to marry into the Yamanaka clan to get information on that," Kakashi told him in a tone I could have sworn was more gentle than normal. It made me feel as though I were a skittish animal, ready to run at the sudden sound of a loud noise.

Had he known? Perhaps he'd had his suspicions this was going to happen. It explained his somewhat strange behaviour earlier at the very least. Or maybe I was still over-analysing this and it was all a simple misunderstanding born from my own fear of a Yamanaka forcing their way into my mind against my _will?_ Maybe he knew I was overthinking this all and was trying to tell me I was wrong. That Konoha wouldn't do this to me.

Naruto made a displeased noise. "Yamanaka? Isn't that Ino's clan? Ugh, that's lame, I don't want to marry someone who likes _Sasuke._ " He drew out our teammate's name like it was some offensive term.

Sasuke scoffed at the blond's behaviour towards him, rolling his eyes. "I doubt they'd want to marry you either, _dead last."_

"Oi!" Naruto glowered at him. "Hmph. Well, at least I don't have to read your stupid mind all the time. That would just be the _worst._ " He then added, leaning towards the other boy with a sneer and crossed arms.

"That's not how the jutsu works you idiot-" Sasuke began to explain only to be cut off by me pushing past him and Naruto, the blond almost losing his balance at how violently I'd shoved him out the way.

I twisted round to glare at them as I walked, ignoring Kakashi's gaze. " _Shut the fuck up,_ " I hissed before continuing on, flicking my hood up.

Sure, I was being hypocritical, getting upset over them mentioning reading minds so casually when I was so willing to accept other hideous, psychologically destroying things to save my own skin. But it was something that could possibly affect me in the future if the threat was real and not just born of my own frenzied imagination. And I'd already proven myself to be the most selfish person out there so why pretend to be otherwise now?

"What's your problem?" Sasuke called after me, voice dark and dripping with irritation. I could practically feel his want, his expectation of a fight. All I'd done since becoming his teammate was spit on every belief he followed in life and it hadn't helped that I'd shown him up in the bell test either. However, I didn't turn back in order to step up to the challenge and instead just kept on walking towards the Hokage tower, letting Kakashi diffuse the irritated Uchiha himself.

Which, granted, was a terrible idea.

By the time my team finally caught up, we were already outside the destination of our mission and entered the tower wordlessly, Sasuke itching for a fight, Naruto glancing nervously at me with wide, worried eyes and Kakashi barely keeping us together enough to hand in the scrolls without everyone staring at us. As I passed my scroll over to the Hokage at the missions desk, I kept my eyes on the ground, silent fuming turning into the oppressive fear once more.

Kakashi didn't dismiss us fast enough after that, seeming to want to say something to me but deciding not to. Once I'd gotten home, I'd pressed my face into my pillow and screamed out my frustrations and terror.

* * *

 **EDIT: altered the bit where Sakura considered the idea of pregnancy (albeit very shortly) and just wanted to reiterate that Sakura is not the great a person plus I do not agree with her views on many things.**

 **A little less sass this chapter but it will return shortly ;)**

 **You can take the T &I mission both ways: either it was a subtle threat towards Sakura to not betray the village or it was her overthinking things dramatically and getting worked up over something that wasn't actually happening. There are arguments for both sides (and I'm kinda inclined to lean to the latter simply because it's more interesting that way in my opinion).**

 **I didn't want her to straight up be mind read because a) ambiguity about Konoha's moral beliefs concerning their own ninjas and b) apparently it's an overused idea. Anyway, no one would have anything to gain from reading her mind (again, an argument as to why this is all just in Sakura's head).**

 **Sakura is also again not in the right either way, as emphasized by the fact she is only caring about people reading minds because it is an issue that she at least believes could affect her. She has a very grey moral area since she knows the difference between right and wrong but doesn't care as long as it isn't her problem (or isn't perceived to be so).**

 **And I wanted to discuss the darker ways Sakura could have gotten herself out of active duty including pregnancy. If she was portrayed to be more desperate a character then perhaps that would have been a viable 'solution' to her worries but Sakura is considerably less desperate now. More just intensely worried and a bit paranoid (although paranoia is technically a very good trait for a ninja to have).**

 **Review Question: What do you lean towards, Konoha warning Sakura away from betraying the village or her seeing a threat where there is none?**

 **You already know which one I'd lean towards simply out of interest in the idea but I want to know your thoughts and whether I could change it in any way to become more ambiguous.**


	10. Ignorance is bliss

_Shiranu ga hotoke_

 _"Not knowing is Buddha."_

 _Ignorance is bliss._

* * *

After the T&I mission, we had a couple of days off. Kakashi didn't specify whether it was a break for Sasuke to quell the urge to kill me and myself to calm my nerves or what constituted as our days off this week.

Working days were strange in Konoha. Those with children followed a semi 'normal' schedule of five days work (sometimes six) and then a weekend due to that being how the Academy and civilian schools worked. Everyone else however followed strange system of working days and time off because 'missions don't take into account your plans' - a direct quote from Iruka who often used that as an excuse when giving us so much homework any plans we had outside of school would have to be cancelled. And, since Konoha's economy so depended on ninjas, everyone without children had strange working times too.

Out of all ninjas, genin and lower down medic-nins had the most constant work schedules; far removed from the insanity that was the work life of a jōnin. The unofficial rule was that genin would have around ten days off per month, not including training days. Of course, if you took on fewer missions then that number would be reduced and missions that took place over several days/weeks would mean for more, but that was the general rule of thumb.

I expected to have considerably more days off with Kakashi as my team's jōnin due to the fact he hadn't exactly been the most _motivated_ of teachers, although it was still too early to see whether my theory was correct. Even if I was wrong, however, my working hours were insanely envious compared to jobs I'd taken before _Sakura_ , especially when factoring in the fairly good pay.

If I remembered correctly, one ryō was around ten yen, making ten ryō around one dollar. The lowest possible pay for a D-rank mission was five thousand ryō, which meant for the easiest missions we got paid around five hundred dollars. That was almost the average weekly salary in the US and for probably nothing more than running a few errands. I wasn't even a teenager yet and I'd be able to support myself incredibly soon.

When you factored in the probability of dying before even reaching your twentieth birthday, however, the deal was slightly less appealing.

"Not meeting with your team today?" Mebuki asked when I came down for breakfast, either not noticing my slightly more frazzled than usual look or choosing not to comment on it. Ninjas were weird with emotions. It was why people didn't freak out if children didn't act like typical kids - then again, no child here would be considered normal by my previous world's standards.

When I shook my head, my father, sat at the table with a newspaper open, laughed and patted my hair affectionately. "Back in my day, we didn't get a break unless we physically couldn't continue with missions so count yourself lucky!"

Mebuki rolled her eyes, ignoring the comment about potential child-slave labour. "Just enjoy the break from your team, sweetheart. Lord knows you'll be spending so much time with them you'll appreciate the breaks." A pause. "How is it going with your teammates by the way?"

 _Oh, it's going great, one of them already wants me dead and I think I'm slowly going mad with fear, so no chance of any meaningful relationships there!_

I shrugged and yawned. Mebuki nodded with some false sense of understanding.

"Well, if you've got some free time, you can help me organise some papers," Kizashi offered, wincing when my mother began to lecture him about doing his own job himself, not pestering his already busy daughter for help. Ignoring the contradiction that was the fact I was on a break currently, the very definition of 'not busy', I grabbed a piece of toast before escaping upstairs once more.

* * *

Over my two days of break, I spent the majority of it 'playing' about with my chakra. I had no direction in how to train my chakra manipulation ability, which meant that most of the time it was like fumbling around in the dark. What I ended up doing came about from my strange observation that, despite my chakra control only being above average, I was surprisingly good at forming chakra threads, as I had shown in my fight against Kakashi.

The exercise I performed based on this was to form the typical, thin thread of energy and then alter its shape by making it shorter and thicker. The less distance from my body, the more control I had over its shape, I realized. Once close enough and with a substantial amount of chakra, I could recreate the shape of the end of a screwdriver that had broken Kakashi's arm when I'd used it in a powerful kick. It was tangible too, although I refrained from satisfying my curiosity by kicking with it again.

When I wasn't experimenting with my chakra and chakra threads, I helped my father with his paperwork with the excuse that I might be able to glean some good information from it, not that busying myself staved off the memory of the T&I mission.

Kizashi's merchant business was booming at the moment, which was why he'd wanted my help in the first place. As I skimmed the papers, I noticed a lot of jobs were taking him to the Land of Wind and increasingly beyond the midpoint between Konoha and Suna. A memory of my mother's remark on Suna's economic difficulties sparked in my mind and the fact that the Wind Daimyō was known to be outsourcing missions to Konoha. Now I thought about it, of course, businesses other than ninjas would be suffering in Suna as a direct result of this.

As Suna's military economy lost money, people lost faith in the ninjas regardless of whether it was their fault that they weren't making money. Losing faith in a village's ninja was pretty much the same as losing faith in the village itself, and so any merchants living in that village would lose jobs too. It only made it worse that Konoha was so trusted by civilians due to their 'cleaner' image than other ninja villages, leading everyone to come to merchants here for their services despite the longer journey.

Suddenly, the 'nasty rumours' about the guy that had worked for my father being killed by Suna-nin suddenly had a lot more believability to it.

The thought preoccupied me enough to keep thoughts of my last mission at bay all throughout the day, only coming to haunt my mind in the form of nightmares when I slept.

* * *

"Sorry!"

I blinked as Naruto bowed in front of me, hands at his sides and eyes scrunched shut. He'd practically yelled the apology as soon as I'd arrived at our meeting place, the slowly more familiar training ground three. Sasuke stood behind him, arms crossed and eyes not meeting mine. "What?"

The blond lifted his head a little, revealing his panicked expression. "Um, well, the other day you were really upset and the bastard- I mean, _Sasuke_ and I-" he barely got the name out without sounding completely hostile "-seemed to have made that worse! I, uh, I don't quite get how we did it but I'm really sorry Sakura-chan, please don't be mad at us- or, well, you can be mad at him but..." Naruto bowed again only to notice Sasuke wasn't doing the same and turning round to hiss at him. "Come on, apologize too!"

Sasuke shot daggers at him before glancing at me, mouth twisting into an uncomfortable line before returning to his normal scowl. "Why should I apologize for something so vague?" He retorted, Naruto spluttering and beginning to yell at how Sasuke was such a' jerk' and 'stubborn prick'.

I felt a wash of annoyance that they didn't understand why I had reacted so badly the other day. Then, rather unexpectedly, there came a stab of guilt, mainly directed towards Naruto who had looked terrified at the idea of me being mad at him. Suddenly, it all seemed a little childish despite the fear I'd experienced during the mission having been so devastatingly real. Of course, they wouldn't have understood why I'd been so upset - neither of them had a reason to distrust Konoha yet or think forcibly reading minds was wrong. We'd grown up in an environment where killing the enemy was a heroic thing to do for crying out loud!

Pushing down the guilt with an iron fist, I realized that even falling back to thinking logically without any emotions involved, my lashing out at them had been a mistake. It didn't matter how much they irritated me or how much I thought they were wrong, we needed to at least be a team stable enough to not kill each other every time we entered a ten metre radius. Otherwise we'd all die in our very first fight and that was _not_ in my plan at _all._ And stopping that stability from happening simply because they were just ignorant kids that I didn't particularly like was stupidity at its finest.

"...It wasn't really anything to do with you two. So, sorry for lashing out." The words fell from my mouth awkwardly but Naruto looked over the moon. Sasuke, on the other hand, looked momentarily surprised by my apology, although the same intense hostility still clung to his glare when he recovered a second later.

I dug my fingers into my palms trying to force down the swell of frustration. _God, I've apologized for being a bitch, what more do you want from me? To lie and say your stupid ideals are great after all?_

"Isn't this just heartwarming?" Kakashi announced, suddenly appearing on the scene. His hand fell to my shoulder, a gesture I could see becoming a habit of his. "You guys made up already?"

 _Can you not tell by the way Sasuke is glaring at me like I just killed his firstborn child?_

Naruto jabbed his finger towards Kakashi, all signs of earlier anxiety and upset replaced with irritation. "You're late _again_!"

Kakashi placed a hand on his heart but not until he'd acknowledged the fact that no, we hadn't made up, with the slight lowering of his eyelid. "Ah, and now so cold once more. But I'll make it up with a good mission, don't you children fret."

An hour later and Naruto was throwing the rubbish we were removing from a stream up at the tree branch Kakashi was lounging on, shrieking obscenities at the jōnin. "I thought I taught you better than to litter, Naruto," Kakashi called down, the orange monstrosity shaking his fist.

"You haven't taught me _anything_! Lazy-sensei!" He hollered.

"That's technically true," I muttered, Kakashi somehow hearing and shooting me an offended look.

"I'll have you know I'm _so_ busy as a super cool jōnin that I haven't had the time."

Naruto scowled, stepping out of the stream and folding his arms "But you have time to read that pervy book?!"

"Icha Icha Paradise is a literary _masterpiece_ I'll have you know-" Kakashi was cut off by Naruto suddenly declaring that he was going to _make_ him teach us something, running at the tree. Sasuke and I, who had been standing a safe distance apart (myself lest the boy decided he wanted me dead right now and him presumably because he was only barely tolerating my presence), both watched.

 _Please tell me he's going to fall like the other day again._

He didn't. Instead, as he kicked off the ground to get a head start on the tree trunk, I noticed the explosion of chakra concentrated in his feet, all of which flew into the poor sapling.

There was a crunching sound before the whole tree began to fall backwards, Kakashi seeming momentarily alarmed before bursting into smoke and appearing in the next tree over, watching with the rest of us as the first fell to the ground with an almighty thud.

"...I think you already know, but that's not how you tree walk." I told the boy after clearing my throat, ignoring the sirens going off in my head about exactly how _much_ chakra would have been needed to do that.

I also ignored the quick thought that remarked that _technically_ Naruto could walk up the tree now it was horizontal rather than vertical.

* * *

"...so team seven successfully cleared the rubbish from the stream, as per the mission orders, and that concludes my report." Kakashi finished with a visible curved smile beneath his mask.

The Hokage linked his fingers together, leaning his elbow on the missions desk. "That doesn't explain the tree now blocking the stream, Hatake."

"What tree?"

" _Hatake._ "

"Okay, so there was a freak, localised storm and the ferocious gale made it fall over." Our jōnin-sensei told the lie with a _completely_ straight face. Naruto looked torn between rolling his eyes and continuing to fidget guiltily.

He chose the latter, Iruka, who was helping man the desk again, noticing this and narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "What did you do Naruto?"

Kakashi sighed dramatically. "Oh no, you've got us. Yes, it was all Naruto's fault. As his teacher, I was only trying to shield him from punishment but I suppose it's unavoidable now-"

"It was your fault too, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, pointing accusingly at the man but bright red with the embarrassment of the knowledge he'd been the one to knock down the tree. "If you'd actually taught us something useful then we wouldn't complain!"

Sasuke crossed his arms in silent agreement. I continued to try not to laugh at the hilarity of the situation, helped somewhat by my continued heightened wariness of the Hokage. The fact that he might have ordered the T&I mission made me look deeply into every glance he sent my way as if each one was some sort of test of my loyalty and emotional strength.

It was _suffocating._

"Explain everything. _"_ Sarutobi then ordered the jōnin. "In _detail._ " He then added before glancing at us. "You can leave now. Any deductions for the misconduct of this mission will come out of your teacher's pay."

Kakashi made a mournful noise. Naruto stuck his tongue out at him in satisfaction. I felt humiliatingly relieved by our allowance to leave.

As we exited the room, Iruka followed, stopping us before we could leave the building. "Why don't you explain to me what happened, Naruto?" He asked, seeming somewhat flustered and worried about the whole tree felling incident. His concern was almost sweet, even more so when he extended his worried glances to Sasuke and me.

Naruto perked up even more, a smile returning to his lips. "Well, Kakashi-sensei was being annoying so I was gonna tree walk up to him and teach him a lesson! Except-"

"The idiot made the tree fall down." I couldn't tell whether Sasuke thought it was a dumb mistake on Naruto's part or that he saw how terrifying it was the blond even managed that.

"OI!"

Iruka's mouth fell open. "Tree walk?" I could practically hear his silent comment about Naruto's abysmal chakra control and how there was no way he should be learning that yet. He needed more practice at the basics first, like the paper folding he never really managed to do. Or at least that was the standard way of doing it.

"Yeah, but Kakashi-sensei won't even tell us how to do it!" Naruto complained before his eyes lit up, an idea clearly forming in his mind. "Hey, hey, Iruka-sensei, can you teach me how?"

As much as Iruka told the boy off during our Academy days, it was no lie that the orange monstrosity somehow knew exactly what to say to make him do what he wanted. If I thought seriously about it, one could argue that this was the beginnings of his 'protagonist powers' where he could make villains turn good by just chatting with them. He was _surprisingly_ good at knowing what made people tick, usually in a positive manner. Although his ignorance of this incredible manipulative ability was _staggering._ People would literally kill for a skill like that. I was even incredibly jealous - if my skills at manipulation were even half as good as Naruto's, I would be long gone from Konoha.

I wondered whether he'd inherited it from Minato. As nicely as the canon had painted the man, I doubted anyone with the Hokage's hat could be without any kind of manipulative abilities.

Iruka conceded almost immediately, beginning a familiar lecture about how to tree walk with the skill of a seasoned teacher. Not that I listened for long, taking the first opportunity I saw to slip away.

As I got further from the Hokage's tower, I barely heard Iruka's question as to where I'd gone. "Oh, Sakura-chan already knows how to tree walk," Naruto replied casually.

" _What?!"_

 _ **God fucking damn it Naruto.**_

* * *

 _A hand moving to the forehead, the blue eyes of a Yamanaka, blood-stained floor, mind ripped apart, helpmehelpmehelpmehelpme._

 _ **I just don't want to die.**_

* * *

"I hope that cat gets even more ribbons attached to it." Naruto scowled as he gingerly touched his scratched face, Tora the cat having stopped tormenting him in favour of pawing at the wire I was dangling in front of her. After the 'tree walking incident', we'd had the infamous Tora mission thrust upon us as a punishment (despite the official blame going to Kakashi as our jōnin-sensei). The mission had been mostly uneventful, save for when Naruto had slipped trying to follow my route through the trees, Sasuke sneering at him whilst I tried not to laugh.

"Now, now, she's only trying to escape and live a ribbon-less free life." Kakashi chided the injured blond.

"Why don't we just let her go free then?"

"Money."

"Ah."

Tora rolled onto her back, purring loudly as I scratched her stomach. "How come she's so nice to you, Sakura-chan?" Naruto grumbled, moving to pet the cat also only to be swiped away by brandished claws.

"Animals can tell if you're a good person," I replied as Tora began to now hiss at Sasuke.

Kakashi chuckled whilst the Uchiha glowered at me, holding out his hand towards Tora. She took one look at it before digging her fangs in.

Silence.

"Looks like we're going to have to apologize for not finding Tora." The jōnin announced, drawing out a kunai.

"She's only trying to lead a ribbon-less life."

"Sakura, be quiet."

By the time we returned to the Hokage tower, Naruto was considerably more scratched than before, Sasuke had been bitten twice, Kakashi was still plotting Tora's death and I was unharmed, the cat slung across my shoulders and purring contently. "Mission to catch the demon spawn complete," Kakashi informed the Hokage.

Sarutobi sighed. "Hatake, she is the cat of the Fire Daimyō's wife."

"Doesn't mean she's any less removed from the devil."

Tora screeched and hissed when her owner came to finally pick her up, pulled into a bone crushing hug. "Serves her right," Naruto jeered, Sasuke nodding and Kakashi doing his usual condescending wiggle of the fingers in farewell.

The third Hokage watched on in exasperation before turning his attention back to the scroll of missions, trailing his gaze across them. His eyes then flicked to Naruto's impatient form, Sasuke's bored expression and finally me, looking everywhere but at our _esteemed_ leader. "...Bodyguard mission. C-rank."

Naruto practically exploded with happiness, fist pumping and jumping on the spot. "Yes! Who is it? A princess? A lord? I'll be the best bodyguard they've ever had, believe it!"

 _Bodyguard mission? C-rank?_

 _Oh fuck no._

Something in my expression or posture must have changed because Kakashi's hand was suddenly resting on my shoulder. "A C-rank this soon?"

Sarutobi leant forwards, elbows planted on the table. "Why not? Aside from that one incident, team seven has thoroughly proved themselves to be capable of such."

 _No we haven't,_ I wanted to say, dread pooling in my stomach. Our teamwork was terrible. Naruto and Sasuke were constantly arguing. Sasuke and I could barely tolerate each other's presence. Naruto continued to attempt to catch me in one sided conversations I didn't want a part of. We were not in any sense of the word _'capable'_.

"It's a mission to the Land of Waves." Sarutobi continued, Kakashi's hand on my shoulder, my sense of self-preservation and my crippling _fear_ of what would happen if I betrayed Konoha being the only things stopping me from throwing myself out of a window. "It will be a good test of their abilities."

And there it was.

 _Another test,_ I thought, trying to wrestle my thoughts away from the growing paranoia and urge to run. If I completed it then they'd trust me as a loyal Konoha-nin. But if I tried to run away then-

Kakashi's grip on my shoulder tightened, the slight pain throwing me back into reality. Which, unfortunately, wasn't much better a place to be.

 _Zabuza and Haku,_ I named the people that would be after my head if we took the mission. The former was listed in my bingo book, bought recently and stashed away in the Haruno clan's small library. In the canon, team seven had survived with considerably minor injuries considering they'd been genin taking on an _A-rank mission._ We were arguably in an even better situation than that considering I was apparently chūnin rank and had knowledge of what was going to happen.

If thinking through things logically made everything less terrifying, however, I wouldn't have spent a decade trying to escape this future.

 _Think. Think. Think._

A memory of Zabuza's underlings attacking the canon team seven sprung to mind and Kakashi offering a way out of the mission. _There_ was a moment of opportunity. If I voiced my complete and utter terror at the prospect of an A-rank mission, it was likely Kakashi would respect my choice even if Naruto and Sasuke decided otherwise. If this was a test, the Hokage would accept my decision too, maybe even go as far as praise it as it was the _sensible thing to do._

"Enter," Sarutobi then called, a door swinging open behind us. I tensed, waiting for the telltale stench of Tazuna's alcohol and his sneered remark on how we didn't really look like ninjas.

(Not that he'd know considering the Land of Waves didn't have their own ninja force.)

Instead, the sound of heels clicking on the floor carried through the air, moving towards the missions desk we were stood in front of. Turning as much as I could with Kakashi's hand restricting my movement, I barely restrained the look of complete surprise at the person standing there.

A painfully beautiful woman met my gaze, clearly a civilian by how she wore a kimono and her dark hair up in a style that reminded me of geishas. Except my knowledge of geishas shrieked that she wasn't one with the subtle inconsistencies in her style of dress and the way she carried herself.

 _...You're not Tazuna._

"Is this the team assigned to me?" She asked the Hokage in a respectful tone, eyes flickering over myself, Naruto and Kakashi before settling on Sasuke, a glimmer of recognition passing across her expression.

"Believe it…" Naruto sounded like he wanted to shout his catchphrase but was too busy staring in awe at the woman, a blush rising in his cheeks. The chūnin manning the desk, for once not Iruka, let his mouth drop open. Kakashi, Sasuke and Sarutobi, on the other hand, looked like the couldn't care less about how gorgeous she was.

"That is correct." Sarutobi nodded before raising his voice so that Naruto snapped back to reality. "Team seven this is your client, Ukihashi. You are to offer herself and her entourage your services as bodyguards to their destination in the Land of Waves."

"Please take care of me and my girls." Ukihashi bowed her head slightly.

"We will fulfil our duty as ninjas of Konoha so you don't have to worry about a thing," Kakashi replied with a crinkled eye and smile.

Ukihashi smiled back, closing her eyes as she did so. "I am glad. We leave tomorrow at six in the morning so please meet us at the main gate before then. The rest of the details should be in the mission scroll." With one last respectful bow, she turned on her heels, twisting back to see Naruto's starstruck expression and waving goodbye at him.

He short-circuited.

"Idiot," Sasuke muttered under his breath as Ukihashi sashayed away.

 _...Really, where the hell is Tazuna?_

* * *

 **Sorry about lack of reviewer replies again! Family is over and school is soon so I'm a little stretched right now :( Hopefully I'll get my shit together in time for next chapter**

 **Anyway,**

 ***slams hands on desk* PLOT CHANGE PLOT CHANGE PLOT CHANGE**

 **Honestly I am so excited for this arc it gonna be great**

 **And Snarky Sakura makes her appearance yet again (hopefully to stay YES)**

 **Warning though: chapters will have dark maturish themes going on? I mean, it's not like this story has been full of sunshine, but things will be discussed that might be uncomfortable for some people? Nothing explicit of course just a head up though**

 **Review question:**

 **Where the hell IS Tazuna? Lmao just joking**

 **As a ninja, if you only had the ability to use one of the major skills (ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu), which would you pick? (question suggested by Xalmtris)**

 **Probably ninjutsu (because ninja powers amirite), although genjutsu appeals to my cowardly nature since then I could run away from dangerous situations/get my teammates to deal with fights for me by giving them an advantage with that**


	11. It is an ill bird

_**Tatsu tori ato wo nigosazu**_

" _ **A leaving bird does not leave a mess."**_

 _ **It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest.**_

* * *

I sat in my room with my standard equipment spread out on the floor around me and a scroll laid open across my lap. Kakashi had only kept us briefly after having received the mission, telling us just what time we should meet and handing us all our own copies of the mission scroll. Naruto had been too excited about the mission and busy daydreaming about the beauty that was Ukihashi to do his usual warning to Kakashi to actually _keep_ to the time he'd set.

The scroll didn't give me much more information about the mission than I'd already known, only outlining the barest details of the job. We were to escort five women, including Ukihashi, to their destination in the Land of Waves. The mission was expected to last around ten days going there and back, although it was likely to go up to two weeks considering we had civilian clients who would need more breaks than us. Once we returned, we were to be paid in the higher end up the C-rank mission pay due to the number of people we were escorting.

Logically speaking, this was easy cash. A C-rank meant a low chance of enemy encounters, excluding the sparing few bandits of course. Even then that was unlikely since there would be nine of us travelling in total - too large a group for any plucky band of thugs to chance their luck with us without considering the fact that almost half of us were ninjas.

But in the Land of Waves…

I bit my lip, frowning hard in thought. _Why hadn't Tazuna come to us with a mission?_ I doubted he'd been turned down by Konoha if he'd requested our services. It wasn't like anyone would have properly checked the mission to see that it was incorrectly ranked and therefore refused to help him unless he coughed up more money. Stuff like that where you tried to get the job done cheaper for a lower rank just didn't happen! Come on, why would it when it entailed you having to lie to ninja who could kill a civilian without even breaking a sweat?!

Common sense dictated that it was a terrible idea so there was no point to checking out the details of every lower ranked mission to see whether it had been assigned the correct grade. Higher ranked missions, of course, were combed through thoroughly, especially up in the A and S-ranks, but spending time doing the same for missions below that would in 99% of cases work out as a complete waste of energy better spent on just doing the job.

As a result, Tazuna's bold faced lie born from his complete and utter desperation had worked out for him because he'd had the mettle to face Konoha with an A-rank mission and declare it was a C-rank.

So no, unless Tazuna had really screwed up somehow, Konoha would have accepted the mission.

 _Then where was he?_

We'd have been alerted if another team had taken that mission already. It was simply convenient to know whether other teams were in the same area as you unless something went wrong or you just wanted to meet up and travel together. Within reason naturally, as we wouldn't have been told if a team carrying out an A/S-rank mission was there, but I doubted this was the case. Team seven were the only ones going to the Land of Waves and would be the full extent of Konoha ninja there.

That left the conclusion that Tazuna was either somehow related to the mission we were taking or that he'd never got to Konoha to request the job.

The sound of laughter getting closer to my room made me reflexively roll up the mission scroll despite the fact it didn't have any information I wouldn't want my parents to see, turning to see the door open and Kizashi poke his head in. "I heard somebody got the Tora mission today." He spoke in a teasing tone, grin then receding into a surprised expression at the sight of my equipment spread across the floor. "Oh? Preparing for another one so soon?"

I shrugged. "We got a C-rank so we're going outside of Konoha for a couple of weeks." The suddenness of my statement would have been weird in my previous world but here it was perfectly normal. Later in my life, it would hold the same weight of saying I was just popping round to the shops. Of course, since this was my first time, it wasn't accepted with such normality.

"A C-rank so soon?!" His mouth dropped open before he leant backwards, raising his voice to a shout. "Mebuki, our own daughter has already gotten a C-rank mission!"

"There's no need to shout, I'm right beside you!" Mebuki scolded before shooting a blindingly bright smile at me. "And good on you, Sakura! Just make sure not to forget about your mother when you're a famous, successful kunoichi." With a wink, she then excused herself to finish unloading the shopping they'd both returned with moments ago, Kizashi remaining in the doorway.

"When I was a genin, I had to take ten D-ranks before my teacher even considered the idea of a C-rank." He informed me. I restrained the look of surprise. Even if they had been in the middle of a war, it wasn't as though the village would throw them straight away into situations that could involve combat. Stuff still had to be done around the village that couldn't be wasted on higher ranked ninjas. Besides, I had the sneaking suspicion that what constituted as C-rank then would probably count as a B-rank now in our time of 'peace'. "So, what kind of mission is it?"

I didn't hesitate in answering. The Shinobi Rules made it clear that one shouldn't spread information about the missions they were undertaking but this was supposedly a C-rank. Anyway, Naruto had probably let half the village already know about the mission with his loudmouth. "Bodyguard mission to the Land of Waves."

Kizashi's eyebrows shot up. "Land of Waves?" At my curious glance, his face morphed into a thoughtful expression. "I used to do a lot of business with people in that country. It's a small place but their shipping industry was incredible. A year or so ago though some big business guy started working there and I thought it was best not to encroach on his territory. But it was strange since he started gaining a lot of money but the Land of Waves became poorer and poorer. Well, there is an economic depression going on in a couple of countries though so it's not surprising." He shrugged before leaning forwards to ruffle my hair.

The seed of suspicion was still visible in his eyes, however. He'd been trained as a ninja after all and was a well-known merchant. If anyone would be able to see hints of immoral dealings going on in the Land of Waves then it would be him.

After he'd left my bedroom, I reached for a thin, rectangular box. Lifting the lid, I peered down at the substantial pile of paper, all with black ink inscribed onto them and their signature red borders. I'd bought so many with the intention that I'd use them up slowly. Besides, bulk purchases were cheaper than buying them frequently.

Despite this, however, I picked up almost a third and slid them into their specific compartment in my weapons pouch. I was heading into unknown territory and in situations such as this, you could never have enough explosive tags.

* * *

Naturally, Kakashi was late to our meeting spot. Less so than usual at only the ten-minute mark since our clients had specified they wanted to leave by six, but late all the same. "There was a lot of construction on my street and I had to make sure I didn't pass under any of the ladders."

" _Liar_ ," Naruto huffed, although his irritation at Kakashi dispersed immediately as he began to chatter aimlessly about how he'd never left the village before and this was all so exciting, blah, blah, blah.

This wasn't strictly true since we'd had to do training exercises outside of the walls of Konoha before, but we'd been so close and under the watchful eyes of so many teachers it was hardly the same as going out supervised by just Kakashi. If I was being truthful, there was a bubbling sense of excitement inside me also although for entirely different reasons to Naruto. The word 'freedom' burned in my mind and whispers of escape nestled in my ears, wheedling persuasions to run away from Konoha and never look back.

I focused on Naruto's chakra to ground myself. I would've used Kakashi's as a better reminder that I couldn't run but I hadn't had any time to simply be close to him and focus on imprinting his chakra sensation into my brain. Not that it'd be a skill I could use often as in a battle scenario he'd be sure to hide all chakra signals from potential enemies.

Ukihashi entered my field of view not even two minutes after Kakashi had arrived, timing so impeccable that I couldn't believe his lateness was anything other than planned. Not many people were up and about yet so she was easy to spot, even more so without her elaborate hair. The beautiful kimono from yesterday, however, had been switched out for a dress, reminiscent of the style of the other article of clothing but far more practical considering we were embarking on a fairly long journey. Four other women were visibly following behind her - our other clients, I deduced as they came to a halt in front of us.

"You leaf ninja are as punctual as ever," Ukihashi commented, an amused, secretive smile gracing her red painted lips.

Naruto choked on air, whether it be because of the appearance of the gorgeous woman or the complete incorrectness of her statement, I didn't know.

"We aim to please our clientele." Kakashi flashed a smile back.

Ukihashi arched an eyebrow. "Don't we all?"

One of the women almost burst out into a fit of laughter, barely containing it behind a twitching grin. The woman beside her swatted her arm, although she too was smiling. "Hey, Sakura-chan, I don't get it, did they say something funny?" Naruto whispered harshly behind his hand.

"Idiot." Sasuke drawled despite the fact I was fairly certain he too didn't understand what was so amusing about Ukihashi's words.

We didn't bother with introductions. It was already coming up to six, the time they'd wanted to be leaving Konoha by, so we headed for the checkpoint at the gate instead. My teammates and I were free to pass in and out of Konoha, a perk of the job if one was looking on the bright side, but Ukihashi and her band of women as civilians were not. Consequently, we went up with them, Kakashi and Ukihashi displaying proof of the mission with their own separate scrolls. Our teacher then yet again pretended he'd forgotten his ninja ID, although the chūnin working there seemed too exasperated to argue and waved the man through.

"I've been working a night shift so count yourself lucky." He muttered, Kakashi giving him a lazy salute of thanks.

Naruto, who had been acting somewhat subdued due to the presence of the pretty women, suddenly regained his uncontrollable excitement and practically yelled in joy after crossing through the gate, fist pumping with both arms. "Alright! First mission outside of Konoha! Let's go-" Kakashi snagged him by the back of his jacket, stopping him from immediately running off.

"It's a long journey so don't waste all your energy right now, Naruto." He reminded him. "Also, it's still early in the morning, so perhaps we should be a little more considerate and not shout so much, hmm?"

The blond flushed a little, gaining a few giggles from the women as he nodded. Kakashi released him with a smile before taking his position at the back of the group whilst everyone else moved forwards. We weren't arranging ourselves into any sort of official formation other the jōnin staying back there and Naruto being pushed towards the right, the position typically for the weakest member of the team. A B-rank perhaps would warrant a constant protective formation but for a C-rank this was more than sufficient.

For the first hour or so of walking, I was caught in between the paranoia that we'd be attacked any minute now and the new somewhat overwhelming sensation of freedom. Whilst I knew logically that we weren't far from Konoha at all, probably only twenty minutes away for a ninja travelling at a 'normal' speed, once the village was hidden behind the swathes of trees, my muscles relaxed momentarily and I had to bite back a sigh of relief. If we weren't headed for the Land of Waves then I would have been almost peaceful, except we were and it was my emotions swinging from relief to fear that kept me alert.

After that hour, however, it became too mentally exhausting to try to keep such awareness of my surroundings and use chakra sensory skills I didn't really have. So I fell back into an analysis of our clients.

Picking up their names was easy since they were a fairly chatty bunch. Ukihashi was clearly the oldest, entering at the very most her late twenties, although the second oldest was a woman named Takasago. Her hair was ash brown and short, pulled back in a strange style so that two large strands of hair fell neatly on either side of her face. She wore a similar dress to Ukihashi but had in addition a fan hanging from her obi by a golden ribbon. A detail I found almost amusing as she complained more than once about it being far too cold. She too was, albeit slightly less than Ukihashi, incredibly attractive. In fact, all of the women travelling with us were.

It was mildly disconcerting.

Yoyotose was the name of the one who had laughed at Ukihashi's secret joke earlier. Her hair was the most unnatural of them all, a deep blue that too was pulled back away from her face but hung loosely to her waist. Aside from the overpowering beauty of Ukihashi, she had the most presence, giving off an air of strength that was above that of a civilian but below that of a ninja. Her clothing was also the most practical, with leggings instead of a dress and a simple wrap around top, however, the material seemed as expensive as the clothing of the others.

A fair blonde with a hairstyle like Ukihashi's was practically always glued to Yoyotose's side. She was called Matsubito. Her top exposed her shoulders and her shorts her legs, skin without any sign of blemish- or at least, that was until I noticed the familiar sheen of makeup around her neck and collarbone.

Lastly came the girl Orihae. At first, I had thought she was in her twenties but, upon looking more closely, it was clear she was not more than nineteen and the youngest of the group. In ninja years, that was the age of a mature, wise adult. People could get married then without anyone questioning whether it was too early or suggesting that take more time to live life before settling down. Then again, by that point in your ninja career, you would have already killed several people and made decisions that could cost lives.

Ninjas aged fast.

Her jet black hair and pale skin almost made her look as though she could have been a sister to Sasuke, although the shape of her face wasn't quite right even if she carried looks worthy of a Uchiha. The white of her blouse only served to make her seem even paler whilst her skirt fluttered prettily around her knees.

Whilst taking in their appearances, I noticed something even more bizarre than their unearthly levels of beauty: their attitude towards Sasuke.

Usually, when people of Konoha saw him, they either viewed him with awe or sympathy. Our clients, however, treated him with a huge sense of distrust and even dislike.

It was weird.

Even Naruto seemed to notice it, although clearly didn't pay it any mind since he was getting practically all the attention from the women in response. Apparently, they found his excitement towards the world outside Konoha charming, adorable even. The image of my teammate in his hideous orange outfit and those words were not compatible in my mind.

"People watching?" Ukihashi asked me suddenly, quietly enough so that only Kakashi and myself could hear. I drifted often to the back of the group with the subconscious thought of it being the safest as it was closest to the jōnin. The man didn't react to her question though, walking whilst reading from his horrific book.

His spatial awareness was so good it almost made me mad.

"Oh, I forgot, you ninja like to call it observing the situation." The beauty then added, a teasing lilt to her voice.

"A preferable description," I responded in what Naruto called my 'client voice'. "Although I imagine you also had to be observing the situation to notice that."

She laughed. It was a low, sultry sound. "It seems I deserved that, Sakura. That's your name, isn't it?" I nodded. "It's a pretty name for a pretty girl."

I thought about my messy hair and face without a lick of makeup. There was no doubt I looked very different to the women surrounding me currently. If I was any more self-conscious than I was, perhaps this would be a mortifying experience, but I couldn't care less about my looks unless it was something making me particularly noticeable. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Kakashi replied nonchalantly, flipping over another page of his book.

"You're _not_."

The jōnin looked up from his book briefly, faking a look of hurt. "Unwelcomed by my _own student_ …"

Ukihashi laughed again.

* * *

We walked non-stop for most of the day excluding a few breaks for rest and food. Our clients had done fairly well considering this but it did put the differences in our endurance into perspective seeing them so tired. The last time I'd really stepped back to view the insanity that was a stamina of a ninja was back in the academy. We'd done a run around Konoha for a change from doing laps around the school field. Everyone had been chatting whilst Iruka was trying to rein back in Naruto and Kiba who were racing one another. I'd expected to be exhausted by the end hours later only to find myself at the finish way before that time and feeling like I could do it all over again without any difficulty.

Chakra really made you a freak of nature.

We broke slightly off the beaten track to find a clearing to spend the night. Naruto got sent off to find firewood whilst Sasuke was to find our dinner. I expected to be given the task of scouting the perimeter but Kakashi instead told me to stay with the clientele, presumably going off to do that instead. Naruto complained briefly about me being let off the workload and Sasuke looked fairly pissed since the jōnin had technically just stated that I was enough to protect the group of civilians alone, but neither were really right.

Even if Kakashi didn't think I'd do it, he couldn't present an opportunity for me to run away yet. It was psychology 101: you don't offer something bad to someone who really wants it, even if they know they shouldn't take it. Temptation could overpower rationality and he already knew I wasn't doing so hot emotionally wise.

Maybe after a few days or on the way back he'd let me go off on my own but for now, I needed to not have any possible chances to run handed to me.

I didn't do just nothing waiting for them to return, however. Whilst my team hadn't brought any tents due to the fine weather we were having, the women had. Which was a surprise considering they hadn't been carrying bags big enough to carry such things.

Yoyotose unrolled a scroll and a small amount of chakra was thrust from her hand into the paper, a puff of smoke appearing. My hand fluttered to my weapons pouch, training shrieking to attack the enemy ninja as I flicked it open, but the blue haired woman noticed my alarm and raised her hands up in a sign of peace. "Ah, sorry! I'm not a ninja pretending to be a civvy, don't worry!" The smoke dispersed to reveal a couple of tents and their pegs lying innocently on the ground. "I was an Academy kid. Didn't have enough potential to graduate but enough to eventually be able to summon stuff." She spoke quickly, hands still up.

Matsubito, the fair-headed woman, placed her hand onto Yoyotose's shoulder and looked me dead in the eyes, an action that was mildly surprising considering the power gap between us. "It's true." Ukihashi then raised her voice, frowning at Matsubito for staring me down but offering me a calm expression. "Hatake knew this so we didn't even think to alert you and your teammates, which is our fault."

I felt suddenly like a dangerous animal they were trying to subdue. In a way, I was. There were more than enough stories about civilians startling ninja and paying for it with their lives. The fault usually lay with neither party as the civilian wouldn't think about how their actions could trigger a ninja's safety mechanism and the ninja wouldn't be able to switch their instincts off like that. I'd gotten past the most dangerous part, however, the initial trigger and instinctive reaction. _If I'd been faster in throwing a kunai or even an explosive tag though…._

I breathed out slowly, hand retracting from my weapons pouch and muscles relaxing a little. Matsubito closed her eyes with a relieved sigh, Yoyotose breathing out what sounded like a curse at the released stress of the situation and Ukihashi sending a grateful smile my way.

A hand rested on my shoulder a second later, the pressure pushing out more of the tension in my body. I could sense the faintest wisps of chakra still clinging to Kakashi at this distance and I wondered whether he'd rushed here at the sudden burst of chakra earlier. "Please refrain from scaring my cute genin like that." He did his usual crinkly-eyed smile but there was weight attached to his words that the women couldn't ignore. Even Orihae and Takasago who had been completely uninvolved in the situation heeded his words.

The moment then passed and he lifted his hand from my shoulder. "I'll help," I offered immediately, Yoyotose allowing me to do so with a smile. Kakashi watched but didn't lift a finger to assist in setting up the tent, the book already flicked open and having found a rock to sit on. By the time Naruto and Sasuke had returned we were done, the latter seeming to notice the inconsistency of the size of our clients' bags and that of the tents but not questioning the occurrence aloud. The orange monstrosity however only huffed and sighed that we hadn't brought any tents.

Dinner was a nicer affair than I supposed most would have on their missions outside Konoha and in the middle of nowhere. Usually, meals on missions were meant to be quiet affairs where people would eat as much as necessary before resting for the minimum time possible. Sasuke had caught plenty of food and our clients passed around fruit they'd brought with them as a sort of dessert to the meal. The women also chatted loudly and happily with us, excluding Sasuke somewhat but with less hostility than they'd had at the start of the mission. He had gotten them dinner after all.

"Finally, the right temperature." Takasago declared as she sat by the burning fire, picking up her fan and fluttering it around her face with a satisfied smile.

"Just watch out for when we get closer to the Land of Waves. It is colder there than here." Ukihashi informed the woman, gaining a bemoaned groan in reply.

"Have you been there before?" Naruto asked Ukihashi with large, curious eyes.

The woman turned to face him, giving the boy her full attention. "Once a long time ago. It's a beautiful place although it's hard to see that a lot of the time since it's so foggy there."

"That's the trouble with living by the ocean." Orihae agreed, looking as though she was holding back a yawn of exhaustion.

Naruto's eyes seemed to shine at the mention of the ocean. Takasago noticed this and stopped her fanning momentarily. "It'll be my first time seeing it. The cold better be worth it."

Yoyotose rolled her eyes, taking a bite of her apple. "I doubt it's gonna be cold at all."

"My body is very delicate to temperature changes."

"Oh yeah, your body is _so_ delicate…"

Naruto turned his attention back to Ukihashi, lifting up a bottle of water as he did so. "Why are you going to the Land of Waves anyway? Kakashi-sensei never said." I pricked my ears up at that, Sasuke visibly doing the same.

Ukihashi's smile tightened a little. "Work."

"Courtesan business." Takasago elaborated.

"We're prostitutes." Yoyotose put plainly.

Naruto spat out his water. Sasuke suddenly descended into a violent coughing fit. I resisted the urge to smack my forehead at the obviousness of the answer. Obi tied at the front. Hair like a geisha. Names that was unnecessarily long. Makeup on their necks and collarbones.

All my ninja training shrieked in shame at having not noticed it sooner.

"Yoyotose!" Orihae flushed a bright red, scowling at the woman. "There was no need to tell them that!"

Rolling her eyes, the blue haired woman leant her head against the fair-haired Matsubito's shoulder. "They're ninjas, not little kids." She then paused, glancing over at Naruto who was now coughing too, hitting his chest with his fist, and Sasuke who had turned somewhat pink. "Well, at least the girl isn't."

It was natural I wasn't. Even if it hadn't been stated outright, a lot of my kunoichi training lessons had pertained to the art of seduction traditional Japanese courtesans used. There would be quite a chunk of us that would eventually take on seduction missions to serve our duty to our village. Seducing enemies was done more often than I'd initially thought it would but, then again, there was a reason so many cheesy love songs existed. Used correctly and the attraction people had towards you was a powerful weapon.

"I'm not a little kid!" Naruto blurted out awkwardly, a bright red.

Takasago raised an eyebrow. "From what I've seen, you're the shortest one here so..."

"Don't antagonize our escorts, please." Ukihashi sighed, although I could see the faint form of a smile on her lips. "It's been a long day. Perhaps we can continue this conversation at a more suitable time?" She shot a pointed look at Orihae who was halfway through a yawn, the older teen seeming embarrassed at having been caught.

And that was the end of that conversation.

The women entered their tents whilst my teammates and I settled down into our sleeping bags around the campfire. Kakashi was to take the first watch, Naruto second, Sasuke third and myself fourth. I'd been steered away from the usually undesirable watches in the middle of the night by our teacher, another case of him limiting the temptation of escape. It was more a blessing if anything since I'd have the most uninterrupted sleep schedule.

Of course, Naruto, having gotten over his earlier fit of embarrassment, didn't want to sleep at all, carrying the same excitement a child would have on their first sleepover. And, of course, I would be the one he would direct all his chatter onto, Sasuke having fallen dead asleep the second he laid his head down and Kakashi seeming absorbed in his book. "Hey, hey, Sakura-chan, are you still awake?"

"No."

"Oh, okay... _wait, a second_!"

I fell asleep to the sound of Naruto whining for me to respond to him and pages being flipped, gazing with bleary eyes at the dying fire until my eyelids eventually slid shut.

* * *

The next day started off considerably...quieter than the last.

It was most likely a product of the excitement of the first day outside of Konoha wearing off and the awkward air around Naruto and Sasuke. "Boys in puberty," Kakashi remarked at one point with the shake of a head, both of the aforementioned boys turning round to glare at him with varying degrees of red faces.

Their reaction was even funnier when one considered the rules pertaining to courtesans and the age at which you were thought of as an adult.

Technically, once you got your headband, you legally an adult. A ninja could die at any time, regardless of rank, so the world's vices were no longer denied to you in case death came early. That is except alcohol because that had a negative effect on the performance of ninjas and the consequences of drunk twelve-year-olds with magical ninja powers far outweighed the argument that we should be allowed to do whatever we wanted since we were serving our village with our lives. Everything else, however, was free for the taking.

Theoretically, I could walk into a brothel and demand to be served by someone working there. Of course, in practice, I'd be judged horribly and people would look down on me for years, although there were always people who could live with that shame.

Then again, knowing Naruto who'd never paid attention in class and Sasuke who'd probably blotted out anything he didn't think would be useful to know in his quest for revenge, they probably didn't know this stuff.

Still. Didn't stop it from being funny.

Yoyotose shook her head with an amused sigh as my teammates looked ahead again. "When I was their age I'd already decided on this profession."

I fell into step with her, curious. What knowledge I had on prostitution in this world was fairly limited even if I did know more than my two teammates put together. I'd never envisioned myself doing seduction missions (not even in my past life had I been someone who knew how to use their sexuality as a weapon or particularly wanted to) so there had never been a need to research it that much. Suddenly, I felt woefully ignorant. "You said you were an academy kid so why the switch?"

Sasuke's ears pricked up at the mention of 'academy kid'. "I also said I wasn't skilled enough to graduate," Yoyotose replied, flicking a strand of blue hair over her shoulder. "I was an orphan kid, which was why I'd been entered into the academy in the first place. I knew I wasn't good enough to graduate from the beginning so when some older girls from the orphanage said it was a good way to get further education and money I decided it was probably the only choice I had. As soon as I dropped out I went and got apprenticed to Ukihashi. Didn't actually start working until I was sixteen but had to learn all the entertainment skills before that." She pulled a face. "It'd be easier if you just got them into bed but _no_ , you have to know how to sing, dance and play instruments too."

Like prostitutes from past Japan, I mused. Back then the women of Yoshiwara had had to know more than just how to bed a man. They were entertainers first and foremost, the best with a fairly good education and witty tongues.

Matsubito dropped back to join us too, wrapping herself around Yoyotose's arm and shooting a smile up at her. "Talking about your troubled past, are we? You should know that she had an easy ride, Sakura-chan. Konoha's better than the other villages with ladies like us."

"Where are you from then?"

"A place called Tanzaku-Gai." She informed me, turning her attention onto me as she spoke.

"The city of hopes and dreams." The blue haired woman replied in an extremely sarcastic tone, Matsubito laughing and swatting her on the shoulder. I just about got the joke: Tanzaku-Gai was a pleasure district. It had been mentioned in class one time as a good place to start investigations - especially ones involving scandalous information - since so many people passed through there.

"I was so surprised when I moved to Konoha though!" Matsubito continued. "They wolf whistle so much less, amongst other things. I thought it'd be terrible knowing how ninjas are outside of the village."

Yoyotose snorted. "Yeah, that's because you don't _screw_ where you live. The only ninja that come to our brothel are the kunoichi learning from us."

"And Hatake," Matsubito grinned, winking at the jōnin walking behind us.

"I come on strictly business," Kakashi replied.

"Strictly business to us is getting into bed you do realize?" Yoyotose chortled.

"Don't listen to them Sakura. I am a very respectable man." He declared loudly.

I raised an eyebrow before lowering my gaze pointedly to his open orange book. "Yeah. Totally." Yoyotose laughed aloud again. "And kunoichi learn from you?"

"It's our main source of income." Ukihashi piped up, joining the conversation also. "Konoha pays us to have kunoichi watch how we act and learn how to emulate it in certain missions. As Yoyotose so kindly put it, people dislike visiting brothels in their place of residence so I very much doubt our business would have survived so long in the village without being needed for educational purposes."

"The reason I learnt enough to be able to use my chakra somewhat is because I take care of the kunoichi visiting us most of the time," Yoyotose informed me. "I'm one of the only people in the brothel born to the leaf so they trust me the most." She then nudged me with her elbow and winked. "So, if you ever find yourself taking on that kind of mission, you know who to find."

I didn't argue with them even if I didn't think I'd ever be put on such a mission. You never knew when a connection with prostitutes would be useful after all.

* * *

 **All of the women's names are names that Japanese courtesans would have had, a couple even coming from famous ones of the past :) It was also a thing like Sakura said for prostitutes to have unnecessarily long names**

 **Hopefully, it's not too hard to keep up with all of these new characters! I tried to have it so they all had distinct appearances to make it a little easier to differentiate (Yoyotose is quickly becoming my favourite to write because of how upfront she is lmao)**

 **Not too exciting a chapter either ugh sorry I just really wanted to explain my way of how prostitutes worked in Konoha**

 **And Sakura continues to sass her teacher who cannot BELIEVE she'd repay his kindness this way ho e**

 **Review question:**

 **Seduction mission or assassination mission?**

 **I'd probably choose seduction although I'd have to have a LOT of training to be even semi-competent at it OTL**


	12. Fear is greater

_**Anzuru yori umu ga yasashi**_

" _ **Giving birth to a baby is easier than worrying about it."**_

 _ **Fear is greater than the danger**_

* * *

The third day was practically completely uneventful.

Probably the most interesting thing happened towards the end when we'd started slowing down to pick somewhere to camp. I'd been only half listening to Takasago complain about the cold, eyes drifting over the group as Sasuke raised a fist to indicate he'd found a suitable camping ground. Orihae, the youngest, was chatting with Kakashi instead of Ukihashi for once, slightly flushed ( _a crush?_ ), the beautiful leader was observing this too with an amused smirk, Naruto was whining about how he wanted to eat some ramen and Matsubito and Yoyotose were giving one another giggly kisses-

" _W-what?!"_ Naruto, who had seen the same thing I had, stopped in his tracks and gaped at the women that had paused to raise eyebrows at their onlooker. "You two- _you two_ _are…_!"

"Dating?" Matsubito offered helpfully.

"Helping each other to get out that spinach stuck in our teeth?" Yoyotose grinned when the blonde woman slapped her arm.

"But, aren't you guys…. _you know_!" My teammate stumbled helplessly over his words, growing redder by the minute.

Yoyotose rolled her eyes, arm slung around Matsubito and drawing the woman towards her chest. "The stuff I do in bed as an esteemed courtesan is business. The only pleasure I extract from that is acquiring more money. Getting _Matsu_ into bed, however…" Matsubito smacked her again, although, she was smiling as she did so.

Naruto blinked, then turned a deeper shade of red. "...Oh."

I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from cackling aloud at his reaction, Takasago thankfully drawing attention away from myself with an exasperated sigh. "You two...how many times have I reminded you of the rules?"

"Yes, yes, no displaying of our eternal love for one another in public because customers are meant to think you're in love with them, not your co-worker." Yoyotose pulled a face before the grin returned once more. "But Takasago, have you _seen_ how pretty my girlfriend is?!"

"You're awful." Matsubito was choking on her giggles.

"I was wondering how long the sickly sweet couple would last without causing a scene," Orihae muttered under her breath whilst Takasago pinched the bridge of her nose in continued exasperation. Ukihashi smiled with more amusement than usual, winking when she saw how close I was to letting loose my laughter.

Naruto did however become considerably more talkative with the women following that incident. Perhaps it was the psychological effect of knowing Yoyotose and Matsubito were so not interested in him (not that they would be because of the ridiculous age difference but he was a hormonal boy so it could be understood) or how they viewed their work as just... _work,_ but he managed to somehow reign in his blushes and stutters enough to hold conversations. "Hey, so when did you come to Konoha, Matsubito-san?" He asked curiously when we'd packed up camp the next day, practically bounding along as he walked.

"Hmm? When I was around seventeen or so I believe," the woman replied, holding hands with her blue-haired girlfriend. "It had already been decided I'd be working at the brothel with these guys, or at least the ones who were working there when I arrived, so I'd visited a couple of times beforehand. No other village compares to it, though."

"I agree," Takasago declared, attempting to walk in-between the couple to break up their hand holding only for them to lift up their arms and the woman to walk right underneath. She huffed at them but didn't pester them further about it. "It's a beautiful town. Too cold though."

Yoyotose threw her free hand up in disbelief. "You're never happy!"

"It's the _truth._ "

"Are you from the Land of Wind?" I asked, suddenly realizing the obvious answer to all of Takasago's complaints and why she carried a fan with her.

She nodded. "From a small village almost on the border to the Land of Fire. I moved to this country when I was in my mid-teens."

I did some quick mental math. Considering how old Takasago seemed, that would place her move at just after the third war. Prejudice must have still been high at the time and I wondered how she'd avoided it, then realized that she hadn't since she was working as a prostitute instead of a more respected profession. Technically, such discrimination continued to exist to this day. The last war hadn't been that long ago and people still remembered how Suna had fought against us even if Iwa had been considered the main enemy.

"Orihae is a Konoha kid too," Yoyotose informed us, steering my thoughts away from the subject of prejudice against people of different countries. "From the outskirts, though."

"What about Ukihashi-san?" Naruto asked, shooting a glance at the woman who was walking slightly away from us with Orihae and Kakashi.

"Some small time village near Konoha I think." Yoyotose squinted. "I think she likes the air of mystery, which is why she never told us the name."

"She is one for theatrics." Takasago agreed again.

"Says _you_ , Miss Always Cold!"

Matsubito laughed loudly, Sasuke glancing behind him to see what the fuss was about only for the blonde woman to purposefully not meet his gaze. Naruto and I both noticed this, my teammate, however, being the one to first encroach on the subject. "How come you guys don't like Sasuke?" He asked in a harsh stage whisper. "I mean, he's an asshole, but usually people go a bit loony over him. Like Ino." Naruto added even though the women wouldn't know who she was.

The three all shot each other questioning, cautious looks before Matsubito cleared her throat. "It's not that we don't like _him_ , it's just..."

"Have you ever heard of the Konoha Military Police Force?" Takasago asked. This drew everyone's attention, both Ukihashi and Orihae flinching and turning at the name. Sasuke did the same, scowl momentarily replaced with surprise and recognition dancing in his eyes.

"The what-y what now?" I felt second-hand despair for Iruka at Naruto's horrifying ignorance.

"It was a police force run mostly by Uchiha clan members," Kakashi explained, gaze still fixed on his book but attention undoubtedly fixed on the conversation like the rest of us. "They were known as the elite shinobi who monitored fellow shinobi."

Naruto blinked before folding his arms. "I didn't know Sasuke's family was such a big deal…" He muttered. I remembered again that in the canon he hadn't even known about the sharingan and how it belonged to the Uchiha until he'd seen it. _Oh god Iruka, how you have suffered._

"They also dealt with civilians they _thought_ were breaking the law too." Yoyotose continued, anger flickering briefly over her features. "And they sure as hell didn't like us doing our jobs."

 _Ah._

That made a lot of sense.

Uchiha's had been known for their pride, especially so in their clan and village. Even if prostitutes were helping Konoha by teaching kunoichi how to seduce enemies and weren't breaking the law by existing, there was a lot of shame associated with the profession. It wasn't hard to believe that at least some Uchiha would've seen courtesans as an ugly mark on the village they'd sworn to uphold justice in.

"Habit made us distrustful of you as a Uchiha so we apologize, Sasuke. We didn't mean to offend you in the slightest." Ukihashi butted in before Yoyotose could continue and probably insult my teammate's clan further.

Sasuke hesitated before jerking his head up and down. Whether he actually had accepted the apology or was just acting professionally for the sake of the mission, I didn't know. Kakashi seemed pleased by his reaction, however, the slightest of smiles visible from underneath his mask.

Naruto looked as though he wanted to ask more about this military police but all questions were clearly wiped from his mind seconds later, eyes and smile growing wide. "Look! It's the sea!" He ran out ahead of us fast, ignoring Kakashi's call for him to slow down.

He was right, I realized. We hadn't seen it until now due to the heavy mist shrouding the coastline but now we were close enough it was as clear as day. Not the picture perfect scene since the clouds were grey and the waters fairly choppy however the sea all the same.

"Dumbass," Sasuke muttered, Matsubito blinking before laughing at his remark. She rushed on after Naruto against Takasago's shouted warning for her to slow down, catching up to him quickly. Both blondes then started pointing at sea and cheering together, disproportionately excited by the body of water like small children.

For a moment, Naruto's naive behaviour was almost endearing.

* * *

"I can't see anything!" Naruto complained for about the billionth time.

"We can throw you over the side if you think that'll help."

" _Sakura-chan_!" The blonde frowned, folding his arms and continuing to fidget in his seat on the boat. I tried to ignore him, instead squinting at our surroundings. As annoying as he'd been about it, Naruto was right. The mist was thicker on the sea's surface, to the extent where I was somewhat concerned as to whether the driver of the boat actually knew where he was going.

Then again, beggars couldn't be choosers and we sure as hell had had to beg for a boat to take us over to the Land of Waves. Everyone at the town on the coastline had looked at us like we'd been crazy after telling them we _wanted_ to go there. We'd ended up having to use a combination of Ukihashi pleading with fluttery eyelashes and intimidation from Kakashi to get us someone willing to give us a ride. " _You're crazy though._ " The man told our clientele. " _Crazy hot and crazy dumb."_

"Huh? What's that?" Naruto asked, drawing me out of my thoughts. He was pointing at what looked to be a large pillar out in the middle of the sea. On closer inspection, I realized it was connected to the underneath of some humungous bridge, wide enough to be a good sized motorway.

Yoyotose let out a low whistle whilst Orihae gawked at it. "What the- it's huge!"

"That's what she said."

" _Yoyotose!"_

I turned to look at Kakashi who was peering thoughtfully up at the monumental piece of architecture. "Someone did mention people were building some kind of bridge here…" He mused aloud, the clear message of 'but I didn't expect it to be of this scale' in his tone.

A wave of anxiety washed over me. _We're this close to the bridge?_ I'd known the Land of Waves was an incredibly small country and, logically speaking, of course we'd go through here since this was the shortest stretch of sea between the Land of Fire and Waves. _But still…_

"Kakashi-sensei, what are they building a bridge for? I mean, I guess the boaters are stingy about making trips across the sea-" pointed look at the man that had called us crazy, "-but don't they have their own boats over there?" Naruto questioned, craning his head back to see the jōnin.

"Hmm, let's see, what are your thoughts team?" He smiled at us.

My blonde teammate scowled. "Hey, I asked _you!_ "

"Sasuke?" Kakashi completely ignored Naruto.

The Uchiha frowned in a mixture of thought and irritation at the question. "...Ease of transport."

"Not incorrect. Sakura?"

I was still staring up at the bridge. "Money." _Money in the form of trade. Enough money for people to live off and survive in this country. So much money Gatō's monopoly would be considered null._

He raised an eyebrow. "Also not incorrect."

Naruto huffed. "Then what's the real answer?"

"Who knows?" Kakashi replied with a smile but his revealed eye displayed less amusement than it did silent thought.

" _Kakashi-sensei!_ "

The boat ride only lasted for an hour or so. We thanked the man who had ferried us across, Ukihashi forking out money to pay him for his troubles. Our mission might have been to escort the women but it wasn't in our job description to pay for things like that. That was since we technically as ninjas didn't _need_ boat rides. Our clients not being able to water walk was their problem, not ours, ergo, they paid for their own lack of skill.

Although, since neither Naruto or Sasuke knew how to water walk and I wasn't _that_ confident in my own ability either (I couldn't practice anywhere outside of my bath during the academy and that was hardly the best environment to learn), we should've really been paying our share too. Kakashi decided instead to not voice such information and I wasn't about to complain we were swindling them out of a ryō or two.

I was considerably less relaxed upon entering the Land of Waves. It didn't help that the mist was practically constant and made it so we couldn't see that far ahead, something I hadn't realized I was relying on for a sense of safety until it was gone. Whilst before I had drifted back to the circular area around Kakashi I considered a safe zone every now and then, I stayed in it constantly now, anxiety eating away at my insides.

 _Zabuza and Haku should be here._

Somewhere on this island, two trained killers were waiting. Perhaps not for us but the idea itself was far more terrifying than the reality.

Setting up for camp for the last time on our journey to the destination of our mission was excruciatingly stressful. I kept imagining Zabuza's huge cleaver spinning out from the trees and Haku's senbon needles raining down from above. Paranoia clung to the air like the mist, thick and suffocating.

Not even Kakashi's hand resting lightly on my shoulder expelled the feeling this time. "Almost done now. You're doing a good job, team." He smiled at us. "We should reach our destination by about ten tomorrow."

Sasuke frowned. "Why aren't we heading there now then?"

"Us women need time to make ourselves look pretty!" Yoyotose called from inside her tent, sticking her head out briefly to give us a wink.

Naruto blinked. "But you guys are already pretty…?"

"Oh my Hatake, raising a smooth talker are we?" Laughing at the blonde's blush, she retreated yet again.

"... _Anyway,_ " the jōnin continued as if that had never happened. "Without any civilians, we should be able to get back to Konoha ahead of schedule. And you know what that means…"

Naruto perked up a little, eyes hopeful. "You'll finally teach us something?!"

"No, even better." He paused for dramatic effect. "We get to go on more D-ranks!"

" _Nooooo!_ " Naruto flopped backwards onto his sleeping bag with a whine. Sasuke didn't even bother to glare at our teacher. I felt sufficiently satisfied that I'd seen Kakashi's hype as the evil lie it was. "Come on, Kakashi-sensei, why can't you teach us at least _one_ useful jutsu?! I bet everyone else's jōnin-sensei are teaching them super cool stuff!"

"Ah but I'm teaching you about the cruel nature of life."

" _We don't need that lesson!"_

I wondered briefly whether Kakashi's reluctance to teach us any defined jutsu was his way of saying 'master the basics first'. It wasn't as though the other teams were actually learning all these incredible jutsu like Naruto thought they were. The majority of what team eight and ten knew came from their own clans. Anything they were learning from their teachers would just be simple tricks and strategies to use in fights. And that was how it should be; genin weren't _supposed_ to know flashy moves like the rasengan or chidori. They were meant to have a basic skill set that they'd build on as they went up the ranks and got more access to higher grade jutsus.

For crying out loud, our chakra control wasn't meant to be good enough for anything above E/D-rank jutsus! The fact that Naruto could control his chakra enough to use shadow clones was a minor miracle in itself. Hell, the fact that Sasuke could use that fireball jutsu was meant to be _god-like._

Really, Kakashi should be slowing us down rather than speeding it up like Naruto was suggesting.

On the other hand, I understood Naruto's sentiment entirely. Especially since I'd been told by the Hokage that I was going to take the next chūnin exam and was meant to be able to _pass it._

 _Oh god, one mess at a time Sakura. You're already in the Land of Waves, you don't need to be thinking about what a clusterfuck the exams are gonna be like._

* * *

I awoke the next day with a blistering headache from the lack of sleep my worry had caused me and a hand tapping me on the arm. Panic set in for a couple of seconds but the sight of Takasago's familiar fan calmed me down enough so I didn't straight up throw the woman onto the ground and potentially dislocate her shoulder.

Her dress for travelling was gone, replaced with a silky black kimono that seemed to ripple around her feet. _Business attire,_ I immediately thought only to resist the urge to wince at the idea. "Morning, Sakura."

"Is there something you need?" It came out grouchier than intended. I was _exhausted_ after all.

Takasago didn't seem offended. "Don't ask me why but Matsubito has been dying to play with your hair. Could you humour her just this once?"

I thought about my hair. It was probably horrifically greasy and an utter mess to look at. "Are you _really_ sure she wants to?" I asked whilst getting to my feet. Takasago sighed and nodded, heading back towards the tent she was staying in with the couple. As soon as I'd poked my head in, I was grabbed, Matsubito and Yoyotose's laughter recognizable without me having to look at them. When I did I saw they wore outfits much like Takasago but in pale green and light blue respectfully.

One wouldn't have assumed these were the same women who had been trekking across the Land of Fire to get here. Makeup was an extremely powerful thing.

"Your hair colour is so pretty, Sakura." Matsubito gushed, grabbing a hairbrush and sitting me down on a small stool.

 _More like far too noticeable,_ I mused instead, a strand of pink hair twiddling right in front of my eyes. Yoyotose seemed to catch onto my silent words and snickered in agreement. Bright blue and pink weren't the most _subtle_ of colours. Although it suited her profession far better than it did my own.

The blonde lady then sighed as she began to brush through my hair, tugging through all the tangles that had accumulated. I hadn't brought my own brush and had been relying on combing through with my fingers instead. Really, little things like that only made the stark difference between me and the beautiful prostitutes even more noticeable. "I'm going to miss all your sass."

"Excuse me? I feel _offended_ that you think her's is better than your girlfriend's." Yoyotose retorted as she held up a mirror in one hand and lipstick in the other.

Takasago rolled her eyes. "It's infinitely less crude, that's for sure."

"Ah but that's my charm~!"

Deft fingers worked around my scalp. "If you say so, dear." A hairclip then was snapped to my head followed by a few others. _And those are probably now going to be lost within my hair for weeks._

 _Great._

"I should've been a hairstylist." Matsubito declared, beginning to hum a tune I didn't recognize under her breath.

"I thought your dream was to open a teahouse?" Takasago played around with her fan, casting an appreciative gaze over my hair.

Yoyotose nodded. "We were going to run it together and make you a god damn sauna room so you could stop complaining about things being cold."

The woman waved her fan in an accusatory fashion at the blue haired lady. "I told you, I'm just _sensitive to temperature changes-_ "

"Done!" Matsubito snatched the mirror her girlfriend had been using to show me what I looked like, ignoring how she squawked in dismay. A pretty side braid ran around both sides of my head, tucked in at the very back to form a sort of rolled up bun. For once my face was hair free and I could actually see my green eyes.

 _Ugh. I could not have asked for more recognizable features._

"Oooh, Ukihashi wasn't kidding when she said you weren't bad looking," Yoyotose admired with an appreciative whistle. "Remember us if you ever decide to delve into the profession of sin and lust."

"...Sure."

Matsubito satisfied, I was given permission to leave, slipping through the tent's opening and almost bumping into Naruto. My teammate blinked upon seeing me, then squinted at my face as if trying to discern who I was before gaping. "Sakura-chan, you're _pretty?!"_

I pulled a very undignified face. "Wow. Thanks, Naruto."

The blonde seemed to realize what he'd implied and waved his hands in front of him, stumbling over his apology. Kakashi popped out from nowhere with his book. "Stop being mean to your teammate, Naruto."

"Wha- no, I'm- _Kakashi-sensei!_ "

* * *

The last stretch of our journey took us deeper into the forest surrounding the coastline of the Land of Waves. Despite the fact it was the early morning, the combination of thick mist and foliage made it dark and unwelcoming. It was the kind of place you wouldn't want to walk through alone - hell, I didn't like walking through it even in a large group of people!

I pulled my hood a little further over my head, ignoring Matsubito's sigh at how her handiwork meant nothing if I was just going to cover it up. The sea made the air damp and cold enough so that Takasago's complaints were finally justified, although the goosebumps running up my arms were from an entirely different thing altogether. At the very least, the logical side of my mind argued, we weren't moving towards the village Tazuna lived in. Our destination was in a secluded area, which wasn't too strange considering whoever Ukihashi and her group were doing business with _had_ hired prostitutes. Not many people at all would be willing to proclaim that to the masses so of course, they'd choose somewhere private.

 _Almost there. Then we can leave and our first C-rank will be complete without any complications whatsoever._

The thought soothed me. The walls of Konoha that I had once considered a prison were now a fortress keeping out ninjas like Zabuza. A fortress that would fall soon enough but for now was a safe haven to rely on.

"Huh? What's that?" Naruto, who had been happily chatting to Ukihashi about Ichiraku's ramen place with the woman politely listening along, blinked, pointing at a strange structure that was emerging as we exited a large cloud of mist. It was a wooden building shaped like a cone shell and seemed to be built around one of the many large trees. A spiralling walkway led up into it alongside a few aerial bridges and supporting wires connected to other bridges and small similar buildings.

A flash of familiarity blazed through my mind and my chest tightened. _Where have I seen this before? Why do I recognize it?_

 _This isn't good._

Ukihashi left Naruto's side and moved towards Kakashi, flicking a photograph out from her sleeve. "This looks like the place."

The jōnin nodded before continuing on ahead for the first time this entire journey, the beautiful woman sticking by his side as they moved. I kept my fists tight at my sides, mind whirring as I tried to figure out why the place was so faintly familiar to me. _Could it just be the architecture? Or is the something else going on?_

As we approached I saw there were two men standing by the entrance to the walkway travelling up into the building. They both wore suits which in any other situation would have seemed hilariously out of place in the middle of a forest. Here it was just mildly disconcerting and made shivers run up your spine. "Alright team," Kakashi began once we were a short distance away from the two men. "You wait here whilst I go officially finish off our mission."

"Aww, we'll miss you guys!" Matsubito wiggled her fingers at us. "Come visit us in Konoha, okay?"

"Yeah, you can count on it!" Naruto shot a thumbs up at the group, grin wide.

"Just be careful not to cause any misunderstandings when you do so." Ukihashi laughed as the realization dawned on my teammate's face, Yoyotose sniggering too as she waved goodbye. Naruto, Sasuke and I watched as they walked towards the men with Kakashi and soon out of sight into the building.

"Ahh, this mission ended up being as boring as the rest," Naruto complained, stretching as Sasuke leant against one of the trees. "I"m _so_ not looking forwards to going back to D-ranks."

Sasuke made a grunt that could have been in agreement or annoyance at the prospect, which one I didn't know. I backed up against a tree, feeling a little safer with something solid behind me. My eyes scoured our surroundings whilst we waited, the niggly thought of recognition worming to the forefront of my mind. Where was this place? Why did I have some recollection of it?

I turned my head to the left. Through the trees, I could just about see the billow of mist that preluded to a cliff with a sharp drop and the open sea. I then turned to the right. The forest continued for quite a ways longer, carrying on to the other side of the island if I remembered correctly. It was darker that way as the trees got taller and more densely packed, so I was about to give up on my observation of the environment when I saw a man standing out there.

Unlike the men who had been standing beside the walkway, he was without a suit, instead donning what looked to be a dark purple beanie of sorts and a pale blue jacket. What was most notable about him was the sheath that hung on his hip - empty. A sword was drawn in his right hand.

My muscles tensed.

Sasuke and Naruto were stood in front of me so they didn't see me lean forwards to view the rest of the scene obscured by trees in my other position. In doing so I saw the man wasn't alone. Another male stood a little way apart from his companion, shirtless with his kimono tied around his waist and a tattoo swirling up his skin. An eyepatch covered one of his eyes and he too had a sword drawn, pointed at the third in the group.

The third wasn't stood up. He was considerably older than the other two and knelt on the ground, arms outstretched - forcibly so, I realized upon seeing the wooden log running from his shoulders all the way to his wrists. He was fairly bloodied, open wounds running down his arms and back as if he'd been whipped.

Unlike the strange wooden building before us, I knew why this third man was recognizable immediately.

 _Oh god._

I flicked my gaze ahead again, trying to muffle the sound of my increasing breaths and ignore the ugly sensation in the pit of my stomach. Pieces were snapping together almost painfully in my mind and everything was making sense at the last possible moment I'd want it to.

 _Only a few more minutes and I wouldn't have ever known._

Knowing was so much worse. Knowing meant I could have, _should_ _have_ done something. But I'd spent my whole life as Sakura all too aware I wasn't going to lift a finger to help. In a way, that created the questions of 'shouldn't you have been ready for this' and 'shouldn't you have come to peace with the awful things you would do', however, I'd always known the guilt would be terrible and it'd plague my thoughts and dreams for as long as I lived. The only plus side to it was that I'd be _living_ with it.

So the heart-wrenching guilt seeped painfully through my chest at the realization that it was Tazuna kneeling there not even twenty metres away, and we were standing in front of Gatō's base.

 _Hurry up,_ I thought at both the men with the swords and Kakashi in the building. _Hurry up and kill him. Hurry up and make us leave before anyone notices._

 _ **Just hurry up so I don't get caught in this mess.**_

I didn't see Naruto turn, eyes zeroed in on the entrance to the building and waiting for Kakashi to appear. I sure as hell heard him at the moment he noticed what was happening because _of course, of course he'd fucking see, of course he'd drag me into this clusterfuck of a horror show that I didn't want to be a part of, ever._ "Hey! What the hell are you doing to that old man?!"

His name stuck in my throat when I made my half-hearted, feeble attempt to stop him from getting more involved (because I knew we'd sprung the trap and there was no backing out now). I was forced to watch Naruto running forwards towards Tazuna and his would-be killers. As soon as he reached them, one of the men wielding swords said something I couldn't hear due to the distance whilst the other kicked Tazuna in the gut, making him double over in agony.

So, _fucking naturally,_ Naruto punched the guy that had done the kicking in the face.

" _Colossal idiot!"_ Sasuke hissed as the first man stumbled backwards, blood spewing from his nose. The Uchiha then raced forwards whilst Naruto proceeded to roundhouse kick the second, yelling something along the lines of hating people who picked on the weak.

I was incredibly close to falling to my knees and bawling my eyes out.

Kakashi appeared with our clientele on the walkway seconds after Naruto had finished knocking the two men unconscious and Sasuke and cut Tazuna loose from the rope strapping the wooden log to his back. Orihae, who had been close behind the jōnin, turned an even paler white at the sight of the old bridge builder (or at least old by ninja standards), the rest of the women seeming to follow suit with horror in their eyes.

Our teacher looked first to my teammates and then to me in a 'what the hell have you done now' sort of way, eye flickering with alarm probably at how _petrified_ I must have looked. "What's going on?!" A sneery, gruff voice sounded behind the women and they quickly got off the walkway to reveal a familiar, small man in a suit with a copious amount of golden rings on his fingers and a cane in one hand. He was accompanied by another suited man, a bodyguard, I assumed, and they both walked briskly towards Naruto and the mess he'd caused, stopping a little way in front of him.

My blonde teammate narrowed his eyes and stepped forwards, glaring down at the little man. "That's what I'd like to know!" He retorted loudly. "Why the hell were these men beating up this old guy?!" He gestured wildly behind him at Tazuna, said man coughing weakly and clinging to Sasuke's offered arm.

Gatō squinted through his glasses. "That's none of your business, _brat_."

"It is too! Like hell if I'm going to let some defenseless guy get beat up on my watch!" Naruto folded his arms stubbornly.

"Defenseless?" Gatō spat, dangerously close to hitting the blonde as he did so. "This guy has gone against me and my business more times than I can count!" He then paused, leaning on his cane and revealing golden teeth as he grinned. "Me and my boys were finally teaching him a lesson he _won't_ be able to forget."

I knew in that moment that things were about to get infinitely worse. And it was as if the universe knew it too because it cooperated to devolve the situation into a more _shitty_ one since, as Naruto reached his breaking point, I saw Kakashi get momentarily distracted by something. The jōnin's head twisted a little and looked up towards a window in the building at the very same time that Naruto clenched his fist and swung it forwards.

Ukihashi reacted before Gatō had even time to register the punch, practically slapping Yoyotose three times in quick succession on the arm.

 _Konoha kunoichi sign language._

' _ **Run.'**_

Yoyotose grabbing Matsubito and dragging her forwards with such force that her sandals slipped off immediately was what broke through my still horror. I signed the same message to Sasuke in the standard Konoha sign language, thumb jerking backwards and left hand coming up to slap the other side of my right so hard it stung. I half expected him to be stubborn and ignore me but instead, he slung one of Tazuna's arms around his shoulders and pushed hard off the ground.

By this point, Gatō was sprawled across the dirt and Naruto was halfway through opening his mouth to probably yell even more at the man. He was stopped however by Kakashi dragging him forcibly backwards after the women, who had all taken off the second Yoyotose had made a run for it.

I didn't need to be grabbed by our teacher, spinning on my heel and focusing my chakra towards my feet and legs.

 _Run._

* * *

 **The fuck when you don't turn up in a fic like you did the canon so instead get worked into the plot by being beaten half to fucking death**

 **BUT YOO TAZUNA WELCOME TO THIS HELL HOLE**

 **I guess most of you can already put the pieces together that Sakura did but I'll put it plainly in the next chapter anyway**

 **And we now have a gay couple because I say so. Yes. Best reason.**

 **The next chapter which I'm hype about since stuff is happening and fast so I'll probably update incredibly soon due to excitement lmao**

 **Also the proverb of Sakura's god damn life ayyye**

 **Review Question:**

 **Where would you rather live, Land of Waves during Gatō's reign or Suna before chūnin exams?**

 **Probably Land of Wind since slightly less chance of getting straight up killed? Both are pretty hard to choose from though since you'd be poor no matter what you chose (economy failure YAY) and with people who aren't exactly 'merciful'...**


	13. Wake from death

_**Kishi kaisei**_

" _ **Wake from death and return to life."**_

 _ **To come out of a desperate situation and make a complete return in one sudden burst.**_

* * *

I ran with my heart in my mouth and panic making its roots in my mind. Thoughts were whirling through my head, almost all filled with terror that created a sort of tunnel vision for me.

We'd pissed off Gatō. No, we hadn't just pissed him off, we'd gone to his base with a group of beautiful women he'd almost certainly hired, saved the life of the only man standing in his way to complete control of the Land of Waves, and then taken the women away again after punching him in the _goddamn face_.

This would have been hysterically funny if not for the fact that he was almost certainly going to want us all dead for it and who he would send to get that deed done made me want to keel over and sob.

Zabuza was an A-rank. Every single logical argument could be brought before me to explain how I'd survive an attack from him, that if the canon Sakura had made it out alive then there was no reason why I shouldn't either, but this one fact made all of the logic disappear. All I saw was me, officially a genin, pitted against a jōnin level enemy who had been in the mist village's equivalent of the ANBU.

I wanted to _scream._

My chakra stopped me from slipping in a patch of mud again. The path we'd taken earlier that had felt firm beneath our feet now was slippery and dangerous as we ran. Sasuke grunted behind me and I craned my neck backwards without stopping to see that he'd stumbled a little, Tazuna's bloodied body weighing him down. A cruel thought slipped through my mind, that perhaps we should leave him behind, but I was too scared to feel the wave of disgust at the idea.

 _Too many of us and no plan other than to run._

 _Should I part ways?_

It was a tempting thought. If I was alone then I had a better chance of getting away since I could move faster and through routes our civilian clients couldn't take. But I'd be separated from Kakashi and I did _not_ want to be separated from Kakashi. As much as he would draw Zabuza's attention, he was the best safety net I had and by god did I need a strong one right now.

My eyes darted in his direction. Kakashi was practically carrying Naruto who was struggling and yelling that he hadn't finished with Gatō yet. No one was focusing enough on him to rebuke his _ridiculous_ statements, although Kakashi was looking increasingly tired of Naruto's shouting that was aimed directly into his ear. The jōnin saw my gaze and I opened my mouth to ask him _what the hell we were going to do_ when Matsubito suddenly slipped in front of me, hand falling from Yoyotose's grip. It was more instinct than anything that allowed me to catch her by the shoulder before she could fall off the beaten track and-

 _Fuck._

I saw the chain shooting out from between the trees and split second before it could reach us, yanking Matsubito hard out of the way. " _Sakura-chan_!" Naruto shouted as I flung my head back, the bladed metal chain whizzing a hair's breadth past my chin. In doing so, I was allowed full view of the second of our attackers half way through releasing a kunai with a paper tag attached to it.

 _Fuckfuckfuckfuck._

The ground _exploded_ not even two metres away from me and I barely had the time to grab Matsubito before being thrown through the air. From the chorus of screams, we clearly weren't the only ones to feel the full brunt of the explosion, although any possible concern I could have had for any of them was quite literally knocked out of me, body slamming into a tree. My chakra only softened the blow slightly and I winced aloud, slipping to the ground with Matsubito.

I sat still for no more than three seconds. A dark figure practically flew through the air directly at us and I shoved Matsubito away violently, other hand scrabbling for a kunai. Metal screamed against metal and I was forced further back into the tree trunk by the sheer power behind the clawed gauntlet edging towards my neck. My kunai was the only thing stopping it and I gritted my teeth, so close to the weaponry that I could see the glistening droplets of liquid on it.

 _Poison._

Instinct honed with the fear of whatever concoction lay inches away from my face made me swing my legs up, feet slamming into the underside of my attacker's chin. The attack wasn't as powerful as I would've liked but it did its job of relieving the force on my arm, the enemy being launched into the air away from me. Freed from my position against the tree, I threw my kunai, blade blocked as the man somersaulted through the air.

" _Matsu_!" A voice that sounded like Yoyotose's came from the general area I'd thrown Matsubito in, although no relief came from the fact the blonde woman wasn't alone, my vision tunneled so I could only see the threat right in front of me. A threat that was ranked chūnin. A threat with deadly poison.

 _A threat that was still in midair._

Hand flying to my weapons pouch, I threw a handful of shuriken almost clumsily in my panic hastened state. I could practically hear the taunt of 'missed' by the man when they flew just underneath his head, his confidence rewarded moments later when he placed the hand without the gauntlet down onto the ground to complete the impromptu backflip. Small blades pierced through his skin and he fell awkwardly to the side. " _Bitch-_ " He snarled, landing in a crouch and then immediately kicking hard off the ground to launch himself back in my direction.

Only to find a puff of smoke, a kunai and a piece of paper that had almost completely combusted.

I closed my eyes automatically at the bright glare of the following explosion, breathing hard. _Too hard_ considering the effort I should have exerted - _a simple substitution, nothing fancy or difficult -_ and I pried upon my eyes with a thundering heart, yanking out another kunai. My mind was already racing again with haphazardous plans being shoved together and terrified thoughts about how I did not want to go into close quarters combat when poison was involved-

The smoke cleared and through the mist I saw a crumpled form where the man had last been stood, pieces of his metal gauntlet scattered across the ground and strips of his black cloak raining from the sky.

 _...Oh._

A mixture of surprise and relief hit me although I wasn't allowed the time for any other emotions to start swirling in my head. "Did you get him?" The kunai I'd lowered upon seeing my attacker's broken form shot back up and I turned sharply, ready to fight, only to see three of my team's clients kneeling in the mud and dirt. Yoyotose had been the one to speak, a touch calmer than Takasago and far more so than Matsubito who was in her arms, eyes wide and body shaking. Their beautiful kimonos that had had an ethereal quality to them earlier were dirtied and ripped, their makeup also smeared and hair looking more like mine did on a regular basis rather than expertly styled.

My eyes darted around them to see if there was anyone else, but they were alone.

 _No Kakashi._

 _Oh god._

Panic returned in full force and I barely kept a lid on it, heartbeat picking up again. _You can't freak out now. Do that and you'll be easy pickings. Stay fucking_ _ **calm**_ _._ I gave a brisk, curt nod, quickly assessing the situation as best I could.

Despite the fear of being separated from the jōnin, it wasn't as though he could be that far away. The explosion hadn't been _that_ big, as proven by the fact Yoyotose and Takasago had been thrown in mine and Matsubito's direction. They'd been only a little closer to me than Kakashi had so chances were that he was nearby. It was even more likely that everyone else was with my teacher. The Demon Brothers - their page in my bingo book labeled carefully - had purposefully separated us into two groups. It was a kind of divide and conquer tactic where I'd probably been labeled as the weakest in the group (kunoichi usually were), hence my immediate removal from my team.

One of them would take care of me whilst the other fought off the main group, then rinse and repeat, taking out the next weakest and so forth.

Kakashi however would've taken out the other brother by now. I suspected the reason as to why he hadn't seen the attack coming in the first place was due to the distraction of Naruto yelling and the number of civilians he was trying to keep a track of.

So. We needed to find the main group. It wouldn't take long as they'd probably be trying to find us round about now and I had the help of rudimentary chakra sensor skills. _Or, no time at all,_ I then thought when I heard Naruto shouting my name from further into the forest we'd been thrown into the thick of alongside other fainter voices.

"We need to move," I spoke aloud, moving to help Takasago up seeing as Yoyotose had Matsubito covered. The blue haired woman nodded (thank god for academy training keeping her calm), and got to her feet, starting to pull the blonde up with her.

A single warning came in the form of the thickening of the mist and the first wave came.

 _ **Death.**_

The air felt like it was carrying the concept, wrapping tight around me and forcing its way down my throat. I barely kept my grip on the kunai, breathing suddenly impossibly difficult and muscles seizing up almost painfully as my eyes grew impossibly wide. A faint voice drifted through the mist, words whispered so quietly I couldn't hear them but instigating more fear in me than the poison of the crumpled Demon Brother had ever done as if it could harm me more somehow.

 _Help me._

 _Help me- oh god, help me, I'm going to die, I don't want to die, please, don't-_ _ **please**_ -

My chakra was fluctuating and I barely saw that the women around me were coping so much worse than I was, Yoyotose taking in choking breaths and Matsubito having fallen to the ground, sobs quiet and deathly afraid. Takasago wasn't moving, pale and clutching onto her fan so tightly it was beginning to groan in protest.

I wanted to cry, scream and most of all run far, far away, but I couldn't. It was as if the mist had shackled me to the spot, forcing me to experience this all no matter how much it was beginning to physically _hurt._

 _Please, I just- I don't want to die here, don't let me die here,_ _ **diediediediediediediediediediediedie**_ -

I breathed.

The simple act that I took so for granted momentarily took me aback and I blinked in confusion at how suddenly all the weight of the mist had disappeared. _What the…?_ I looked down to see that my chakra was forming almost a bubble around me, taking on a sort of thick, physical form, lighter than that of water but thicker than that of air. It allowed me to breathe all the same through it however, and not just me. Takasago, who'd been stood right beside me when the wave had hit, had narrowly been caught inside the bubble as well, just as confused as I was about the fact that we could suddenly breathe again.

I opened my mouth, not sure as to what I was about to say, but the woman abruptly started forwards with wide, horrified eyes, arms outstretched. My gaze caught onto what she'd seen a fraction of a second later and my body acted before my _terrified_ mind could, kunai sailing from my fingers. I then watched as Takasago knocked Yoyotose to the ground and the thick blade of the sword made a sickening crunching sound as it forced its way through the woman's chest. It was removed before she even had had the chance to scream, Zabuza catching my kunai with his other hand and disappearing into the mist again as Takasago's body slammed into the ground.

It all took place in under three seconds.

I blinked.

Matsubito was scrambling over to Takasago's body, not speaking actual words but making these choking, wretched sounds. Yoyotose on the other hand was still like me, staring as the blonde turned the limp woman around by the shoulders. I already knew the woman was dead without seeing her vacant eyes and gaping wound that ran diagonally across her chest. Had she been a ninja there would have been more than a glimmer of hope as the actual shock of the blow wouldn't have mattered (chakra took care of that more or less), but Takasago was a civilian. The force of the attack mixed in with the horrific damage to her internal organs would have killed her almost instantly.

 _She's dead._

 _Oh. Oh- oh_ _ **god**_ _._

A sharp, high-pitched sound accompanied the quick intake of breath I took and I almost fell backward, fumbling with my kunai holster in a desperate attempt to get another one out. Yoyotose was up off the ground now, dragging her girlfriend back away from Takasago with a horrified look that twisted her beautiful features into something disturbing that made you want to avert your eyes. Not that I saw her out of anything but the corner of my eye however, too busy pushing the hilt of the new kunai into my trembling palm and curling both hands around it.

He was there. Zabuza was somewhere in the mist nearby with his sword dripping red and another body to count to his score, one that could've easily been my own had I been standing not even a metre forward. And here I was within the mist, kunai shaking in my grip and alone.

It was the worst nightmare my paranoia and fear had ever concocted come to life.

In those few moments of violently shaking and breaths that were too fast and shallow, I couldn't tell whether the swirling killing intent from before was worse than the anticipation and knowledge of what lay waiting in the mist. At least my chakra had found a way against the first; killing intent wasn't just a concept but a physical thing where enemy ninja would infuse their own chakra into the air and slowly smother you with it, poking at the darkest fears that lay in your mind until you relented. One couldn't use chakra alone to make up for their own inadequacy against someone who outranked you in every way.

The mist then broke.

I spun, expecting to see someone stood behind me with weapon halfway through making the fatal blow, but there were only trees as far as the eye could see. Suddenly thinking that I'd been tricked, I twisted back. Still, nothing.

A chorus of yells and screams then sounded from the same place I'd heard Naruto's shout come from earlier and I put the pieces together rapidly, unable to feel ashamed at the stab of relief.

Zabuza was there.

 _There_ , not _here._

My gaze darted towards Yoyotose and Matsubito. They were both on their feet and staring at me. Waiting for orders. A plan. Something to cling to. I then flicked my eyes briefly to Takasago's lifeless body, blood mingling with the dirt and mud and the cracked white of bones poking at the edges of the gaping hole in her skin.

I swallowed thickly.

" _Kakashi-sensei_." His name left my mouth as a breathy whisper and I tightened my grip on the kunai. "We need- we need to get back to Kakashi-sensei."

He'd be _there_ , but that wasn't the point. Kakashi was a skilled jōnin. Kakashi was _safety._ He was all I had to cling to and stop the waves of terror from dragging me under.

 _We need to get back to Kakashi._

Yoyotose nodded, a tinge calmer. She'd been trained a ninja and we were meant to be most comfortable when following orders, to act without fear because it was for our precious village. Matsubito hadn't been, although she let her girlfriend drag her along without resistance as we began to move.

We moved slowly at first, then jogging, running. A burst of adrenaline that was a product of the fear still clinging to me pushed me forwards and I barely stopped myself from racing out ahead of the women, following the sounds of the shouting and faint spoken words. After only a minute that felt so much longer with the things swirling around in my mind, I spotted bright orange through the trees with relief I'd never looked upon Naruto with.

Placing my hand up in the kunoichi sign language for 'slow down', I fell into a jogging pace, gulping down air into my burning lungs and trying to catch a glimpse of our teacher. " _Kakashi-sensei!"_

I froze at my blonde teammate's yell, seeing the reason for the panic I'd never heard in his voice before almost immediately. _Stupid,_ I cursed in the back of my mind, _you should've ran. Should've trusted your gut instinct. Should've known._

Even if the canon storyline was not what my life was strictly following, I knew there were things I couldn't change. Some were because they happened far out of the canon Sakura's reach, others because I'd just not done anything to cause the butterfly effect's wings to flap. The fact Konoha had been in peacetime was one of these things. And, in turn, the fact Kakashi had become blunted without any significant battle to sharpen him was another.

It didn't matter even if my arrival as his student might have prompted him to polish the dull blade of his skills because a couple of weeks was not time enough to regain that shine. So it shouldn't have been surprising at all to see the man trapped in a spherical water prison by an incredibly smug looking Zabuza.

Zabuza whose eyes had darted towards me.

"What _impressive_ backup."

If the situation hadn't been as dire as it was, I might've laughed. He was right, what _impressive_ back up I was, frozen to the spot with kunai quivering in my hand. _Chūnin grade my ass,_ I was a small, cowardly genin both officially and unofficially.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried, relief mixed into the panic. I wondered somewhat viciously whether he was always going to do that, shout my name whenever I entered the scene, then remembered the last he'd seen of me was probably my body being flung away by an explosion.

Kakashi craned his neck to see me and I saw that his headband was still crooked over the eye that held his sharingan. His visible eye was wide with alarm and obvious regret as to the actions that had led to him being compromised. An analytical spark was there too as he swept his gaze over me and the two women stood at my back, holding his stare at the bloodstains on Matsubito's hands and noting the gaping absence of one of our clients.

The regret became sharper.

My gaze darted to my other teammates. Physically, Naruto and Sasuke looked right as rain, save a few bumps and scrapes that had probably been from the explosion. Ukihashi and Orihae seemed to be in the same condition, although Tazuna looked as though he'd passed out completely from his own injuries. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the second of the Demon Brother's, body crumpled on the ground but the tell-tale heaving of the chest revealing them to still be alive.

Theoretically, we weren't in that bad a position to run away. Zabuza couldn't move after us until he'd dealt with Kakashi. Naruto could use shadow clones to help hurry the civilians along. Konoha wouldn't penalize us for abandoning our jōnin-sensei because no one expected genin to take on someone in the goddamn bingo book! There had been nothing we could do; it was just a shame that Kakashi had let his skills slip enough to be caught like that but at least his students had survived.

 _Only problem however is that my teammates are stubborn brats who'd rather run headfirst into danger than live to fight another day._ It didn't matter if they were scared - which they were, I could see it on their faces - their goddamn pride stated they couldn't run from the enemy. Even Sasuke who was meant to be smarter than Naruto, more logical, was victim to his own ego.

' _If I run away here I won't ever be able to face_ _ **Itachi,**_ _'_ was probably what was running through his own revenge obsessed mind, stopping him from realizing he wouldn't be able to face Itachi if he was _dead_.

I couldn't run off alone though. That only led to two outcomes: one, everyone I left behind died and I was eventually picked off because there was no way I could watch out for enemies 24/7 alone, or two, Kakashi managed to escape and Konoha would label me a traitor for abandoning their team.

(Leaving a captured jōnin who should've known better behind was one thing, leaving your team that had decided to stay behind was another.)

"Look at you all, playing at being ninja," Zabuza taunted. "All with your shiny headbands and little toys." I at first thought he was referring to me and the kunai shaking in my hand but then I realized he was talking about Naruto. The blonde was quivering more than I was, pupils dilated with fear.

A new realization hit, my chest twisting painfully. _He hasn't fought anyone until now._

In the canon, he'd faced the Demon Brothers before meeting Zabuza. The shock induced cowardice from that fight had been what caused him to make that silly vow about not running away, was what had given him the courage to battle Zabuza in the end.

But here it had been almost certainly just Kakashi and me that had taken the two down. There had been no chance for Naruto to face the terror of his first battle against opponents that he could beat. _No vow._

 _Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

Naruto had been the one to come up with that plan in the canon to release Kakashi from his prison but he couldn't do that in a terror-stricken state. It was a plan that relied on his use of shadow clones too, a jutsu that only he and Kakashi knew on our team. And I couldn't exactly just go over there and tell him it now because I doubted Zabuza would allow me to move so freely. His mind would probably go blank if I tried to sign language it to him too. Anyway, in his jittery state, Naruto would almost certainly mess it up and somehow _forget_ part of the plan since he hadn't been the one to make it this time.

Any sense of safety that the canon outcome of this fight had given me vanished in that moment.

I flicked my gaze to Sasuke. His eyes were focused solely on Zabuza but his attention somewhat divided between him and our civilian clients plus Tazuna. Unlike Naruto, who would be going in all guns blazing if not for the fear, Sasuke had a sense of logic within his pride. _Protect the civilians._ He was hesitating in his attack. Running forwards would leave those without ninja training wide open to attack and he had no delusions of Naruto being able to handle one on his own. Besides, even if he had lived through a horrifying massacre, that didn't mean this wasn't scary too. Sasuke was feeling the same terror as the rest of us.

My mouth went dry.

 _They aren't going to do anything._

 _They have no plan._

 _So, if you don't do something, you will die._

It was a simple realization. There was no one left to rely on but myself. If I put my fate in Naruto and Sasuke's hands, the outcome would almost certainly be death. Putting my fate into my own hands, however…

Probably death still. Probably a more painful one at that. But maybe, just _maybe,_ I'd make it.

I didn't want to do it. I wanted to run no matter how many logical arguments there were against it. I wanted to do anything other than face a man I'd seen kill someone not even five minutes ago. However, death was death and it didn't matter whether you got there by accepting or fighting against it.

 _Do it._

I pulled my hood that had fallen down over my hair again. _It's not like you're trying to kill him,_ I told myself. _Just enough to get Kakashi out. Just the arm. And, even if the situation was different, you've done that before haven't you?_

 _Do it do it do it do it do itdoitoditdoit._

Still enveloped with fear, I threw the first kunai.

Zabuza, who'd been mid-lecture about his standards for considering someone a ninja, dodged it easily by swinging his head to the side, a glimmer of mild surprise at how I'd been brave enough to _interrupt him_ in his expression.

I was carried forwards no longer by just fear but my training too, muscle memory kicking in as I began to rush forwards. Kakashi shouted something presumably about the stupidity of my actions although I couldn't hear him through the rush of blood in my ears, a handful of shuriken leaving my hands as I stepped onto the water's edge. My chakra focused on my feet so that I didn't fall - I'd learnt the technique strictly in my bath at home so my heart flew into my mouth for the first few moments atop the water where I wasn't sure if I'd be able to stay up there.

" _Brat_." Zabuza sneered as removed his sword from his back and _swung_ it, battering all of the shuriken away with that single swing. His eyes then widened when he saw another kunai flying directly for him, tag attached to the loop on the end of the hilt and burning away fast. Opening his hand, he let the sword drop from his grip and _grabbed_ the kunai, twisting it in between his fingers and throwing it again in one clean movement.

And fast. So fast I couldn't even follow it with my eyes.

I gasped as the blade headed directly back towards me - _too fast, holy shit, I didn't think he'd be able to throw it so quickly, it's going to-_

The kunai exploded right in my face.

* * *

" _Sakura-chan!"_ Naruto all but _screamed_ the girl's name, Sasuke staring with mouth dropped open at the huge spray of water the explosion had caused. An awful, nauseous feeling rose in the Uchiha's chest, one that was familiar as the water rained down upon them all and began to reveal what had been left in the explosion's wake. A body bobbed to the surface, skin burnt in several areas and bloodied in more. Recognizable pink hair poked out from underneath the soaked hood and Naruto shrieked again, eyes tearing up and shaking out of not just fear anymore. "You- you _bastard!_ "

Sasuke felt ill.

 _Violently ill._

It didn't help that Kakashi was looking upon Zabuza as he sheathed his sword on his back once more with this thunderous anger too because that meant the body floating there was _real_ and she- _Sakura_ was-

 _Alive,_ his mind then noted, seeing the girl's chest rise and fall by the barest amount. It was more relieving a thought than he'd imagined it would ever be, to know Sakura was still living, still breathing.

He didn't like his only female teammate. In fact, it was probably true to say he disliked her more than he did Naruto. On their first meeting as a team, she'd _spat_ on his beliefs and, as if that alone wasn't enough to make him despise her, she'd showed him up in the bell test against Kakashi. He was practically certain too that she'd been the one to put the man in that sling as well when that same man had just toyed with him in their fight. It would be simple if she was definitely weaker than him like Naruto was. Brushing off that _idiot's_ comments were easy, but Sakura's skill level was more ambiguous.

Sasuke didn't like not knowing whether he was stronger than someone or not.

 _And yet-_

A memory of her apologizing to him sparked in his mind.

He didn't want her _dead_. There was only one man he wished that truly upon and the hatred he felt for him couldn't even be compared to the dislike of his teammate.

"She brought it on herself." Zabuza's sneer drew him back to the cold reality he was in and Sasuke felt his muscles seizing up again. "Weaklings should know their place in this world."

Doubt slithered into Sasuke's mind and fear made its nest there once more, reminiscent of the terror and helplessness he'd felt all those years ago. First Kakashi and now Sakura had both been taken out of action by Zabuza.

(To be fair though, it hadn't strictly been the jōnin's fault he'd been caught by the enemy. A simple slip on Orihae's part, that had turned out to be Zabuza's hand dragging her into the water by the ankle, and Kakashi's knee jerk reaction to help had been what doomed him. By the time he'd pushed her out of danger, he'd already been dragged underwater.)

The old, injured man Naruto had saved earlier weighed heavy on his mind alongside the clients they were meant to be protecting - one missing, he'd realized when Sakura had shown up with only two women, and the memory of Zabuza's clothes having already been dotted with blood when he'd first appeared.

 _Too many._

There were far too many people for him (and Naruto, if the blonde snapped out of it) to protect. Hell, both Yoyotose and Matsubito were stood without anyone defending them now Sakura had gone and gotten herself almost killed. So how on earth was he meant to keep them safe from the man who had taken out both the leader of team seven and arguably the one of next highest strength?

"Sakura-chan isn't weak, and neither are we!" Naruto broke through Sasuke's spiraling thoughts with a growl, fists clenched and eyes narrowed into a glare. His words, although spoken with a shaking voice, made the Uchiha almost want to laugh at how reassuring they were.

 _Idiot._

 _Of course, I'm not weak._

"Stay back." He murmured to Ukihashi, who was staying surprisingly calm considering the circumstances (pale and shaky, yes, but not screaming outright in terror, which had to be an achievement for a civilian). Zabuza laughed as he did so, the sound throaty and cruel.

"Not weak _?"_ The missing-nin looked as though he'd been told the joke of the century, head tipped back and peals of laughter escaping his masked mouth. After a few moments, he stopped and let out an amused sigh, eyes swiveling down to look at Naruto with a crazed glimmer to them. "No, you're as _weak_ as they come." Raising his hand fast into one-half of a seal, the water in front of him suddenly sprouted upwards, twisting to form a clone that immediately started charging towards Naruto.

Sasuke opened his mouth to shout for the blonde to _move_ but apparently the approaching threat was enough to kickstart the boy into moving, hands flying up. " _Shadow clone jutsu!_ " He yelled in a shrill voice, smoke poofing around him and several clones storming forwards out of it. Zabuza's clone grabbed the sword on his back and swung it through the swarm of orange with both hands, pivoting on his foot as the clones exploded all around him. The water clone then swung directly downwards towards the shocked and still real Naruto's head, Sasuke barely catching the back of his jacket in time to pull him to safety.

Shuriken drawn in his free hand, he launched them with more precision than Sakura had, the bladed weapons twirling through the air in a curved arc. Yet they met the same fate, smacked out of the air by the huge blade. "Sasuke, Naruto, just run!" Kakashi shouted somehow _through_ the water (although there wasn't time to question this, especially when Sasuke had already seen people running across the damn thing earlier). "He's no match for you! Grab Sakura and _run_!"

"Heh, like they have time to be worrying about anyone aside from themselves," Zabuza sneered as Sasuke ducked under another swing, pushing Naruto down by the head to avoid it too. Despite knowing this was true, Sasuke's gaze briefly flicked back towards Sakura's floating body whilst jumping backwards with Naruto in tow. Just in time too to see a kunai fly out of the water and embed itself in Zabuza's arm.

" _What the-"_

* * *

I burst out of the water hands first, slamming my palms onto the surface and using them to bring the rest of my body up into a kick aimed directly at where I'd thrown the kunai. _Hammer it in,_ I thought with a grunt of effort, chakra focused between my feet and hands. The water bowed a little underneath my weight, as though it was made of rubber and not a free flowing liquid, but it was sturdy enough to give me the force I wanted for the kick.

My chakra that had extended beyond my foot only so much as touched Zabuza before he snatched his arm up, eyes wide with shock at both my sudden appearance and the knowledge that if I hit him his arm would come away more than just bruised.

I tasted sweet victory in my mouth as the water keeping Kakashi prisoner dropped back down into the pool it had come from, and then bitter, bitter reality.

 _I'm in close quarters with Zabuza. Zabuza who is an A-rank missing-nin. Zabuza who is reaching for his sword._

 _I have never fucked up so much in my life._

Strong hands grabbed me by the arm and Kakashi _threw_ me through the air with such speed and power I didn't have time to even gasp in surprise. My flight didn't last long however and my shoulder slammed _hard_ into a tree, a blinding flash of white-hot pain ripping a sob from my throat. Someone shouted my name, probably Naruto again, but I barely heard it through the agony as I slipped to the ground, choking and spluttering with my arm falling at my side at an unnatural angle.

In my blurred, teary vision, I saw Kakashi drag his headband back from his eye and lunge for Zabuza, the man who had earlier been spouting arrogant lines about how weak we all were suddenly seeming apprehensive and fearful.

 _Serves you right,_ I thought through the pain, someone having raced to my side and asking my questions that sounded warbled to me. Everything _hurt_. My lungs were burning from having kept my breath underwater for so long - it didn't matter that us ninjas could hold our breaths for longer than normal civilians due to chakra, pushing to the limits of that time was still going to hurt. My right cheek and forehead were still throbbing from the burns of the explosion earlier. My arm and shoulder were practically _screaming_ in pain.

 _But I'm alive._

When Zabuza had thrown back the kunai with the explosive tag, all I'd done was remove the chakra from my feet and slip underwater. It had been half luck because I hadn't initially been _planning_ on doing that. I'd automatically drawn all my chakra towards my hands to either try a futile substitution or defend a little against the explosion, which had caused me to go down under. Then it had just been a simple case of using a clone to fake that I was out of the fight and waiting underwater until I was underneath Zabuza and had a good chance to strike.

Which was admittedly difficult when I couldn't hear much of what was going on down there.

" _Sakura_." I finally focused and saw that it was Ukihashi beside me and that I'd be thrown directly next to where she'd been standing earlier. "Sakura, can you understand me?"

I tried to nod only to regret it, hot pain spiking in my shoulder again. "Yes." I croaked instead, Ukihashi breathing out slowly in relief. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw what looked to be a water dragon diving for Zabuza, knocking the water clone Sasuke and Naruto were still dancing around into non-existence with a stray branch of it.

"I think it's dislocated." Yoyotose, who I hadn't even noticed moving from her earlier position, popped into my field of vision, kneeling by the side of my limply hanging arm. "We need to push it back into place."

 _Just the news I wanted to hear._

There was another gush of water and a tree nearby to us was practically snapped in two by the force, Zabuza going flying through the colossal wave. Kakashi went storming after him, flipping from one tree to another and throwing kunai as he went. Everyone turned their attention away from me and onto him as he disappeared into the forest, leaving us alone for a minute or two.

When he returned, his eyes were narrowed and eyebrows furrowed into an irritated and wary scowl. "Did you get him?" Ukihashi asked before Naruto could begin to barrage of questions, Kakashi giving a tight jerk of the head in response.

"He got away."

 _Not 'a hunter-nin got him' or 'he's dead now',_ I noted, setting off the gears of fear and paranoia in my mind once more. Kakashi turned in a full circle before allowing his headband to fall over his eye, satisfied there weren't any enemies around. Sasuke stared at the man with an unreadable expression and I remembered that he hadn't _known_ about Kakashi's sharingan.

How I didn't quite know. Kakashi was famous, amongst ninja for being ruthless and efficient and Konoha civilian for being _late._ It was hard to fully comprehend how Sasuke's (and Naruto's) worlds had been small enough for them to not know our jōnin teacher's name until we met him in person.

He was also, I realized, incredibly shaky on his feet right now.

"Hatake!" Ukihashi cried out as the jōnin suddenly slammed into the ground, seeming dazed for a moment and not fully comprehending what and why this was happening.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto continued his tradition of yelling people's names in concern, rushing over with wide blue eyes.

 _Chakra exhaustion._

 _Oh no, no, no._

If Kakashi hadn't been up to par enough to avoid being caught in the water prison then he sure as hell wasn't going to be able to avoid the chakra exhaustion that came with using his sharingan for the first time in ages. I could see he was trying hard to fight it, to push himself to his feet and continue on for us, but it was a losing battle and he fell out of consciousness soon after having fallen, leaving us all in deafening silence.

Yoyotose was the first to shoot her gaze to me for orders like she had done earlier, her face that had just started to regain it's colour turning pale again. The rest of the women began to follow suit, even Naruto and Sasuke was looking at me, although the latter's gaze was more out of slight concern and more self-wonderment of what to do now.

Through the pain, receding fear and now cold, I felt a burst of indignant anger towards the unconscious Kakashi. _How dare he do this to me?_ I'd killed a man today, watched a woman be slaughtered right before my eyes, had to face off _Zabuza_ of all people, and he had the gall to just faint and leave the rest to me? _In what fucking world is this fair?_

"Sakura-chan, what should we do?" Naruto asked the question everyone else was thinking and because of it I latched onto him, glaring fiercely.

"I don't know, what the hell do _you_ think we should do?!" My voice came out raspy and it hurt to shout how I was, but I was too angry to care. "You're the one who got us into this fucking mess in the first place so why don't you figure it out?!"

Naruto flinched, a flash of confusion and hurt darting across his face. "I don't-"

"You don't know _how_ we got into this mess? Are you _shitting me?_ " I wasn't sure if I wanted to laugh hysterically or cry. "You thought you could just punch a guy who _clearly_ wanted someone _you_ saved dead and thought they'd just let you off the hook? _All_ of this is your fault, Naruto!"

 _Not just this,_ _ **everything**_ _._

 _Everything that has happened to me is_ _ **your fault**_ _._

In the back of my mind, I knew I wasn't being fair about any of this. Yes, Naruto had been the one to run in there, save Tazuna and punch Gatō in the face. Yes, he should have discussed with his team what to do rather than just acting purely on his own emotions. Yes, it had been the stupidest thing he'd ever done.

 _But that was what Naruto was like._

It was the same as putting a piece of a child's favourite candy in front of them and expecting them not to try and eat it. Naruto had the naive thought process of a child most of the time and an extreme sense of justice. And as the 'adult', I should've known better than to put the 'candy' in front of him.

Because I'd been the first one to see Tazuna. I was the one who should've done something, the one that should've alerted the team and discussed with them what the hell we should do. At least Naruto had tried to save another human being even if he had gone the wrong way about it. I was fully prepared to leave him to die.

I _wanted_ him to die.

Takasago's death was as much on my hands as it was Naruto's, if not more.

"We need to move." Sasuke cut in, voice cool and calm. His eyes flickered to Naruto, the boy quietly horrified and upset, then me, angry and guilty, so, so guilty.

"I concur." Ukihashi raised her voice. "I'm afraid Sakura will catch hypothermia if we don't get her somewhere warm soon."

Sasuke gave a stiff nod. "We'll find somewhere to camp nearby. Naruto, help me carry these two." He then ordered Naruto, gesturing towards Tazuna and Kakashi. Naruto hesitated before nodding, forming shadow clones that looked equally miserable as they rushed over to Tazuna and our teacher.

"This is going to hurt," Yoyotose informed me as she gingerly gripped onto my arm, Ukihashi offering me a piece of cloth to bite into. Then, after allowing me to breathe in and out deeply, she shoved the limb upwards and back into its socket, a muffled cry of pain escaping my lips. Tears slipped from my eyes and my shoulder shrieked with agony, and the last thing I remembered before passing out was Yoyotose apologizing again and again and again.

* * *

 **And so Sakura gains her first kill and first failure of a mission within minutes of each other**

 **...HURRAY**

 **I wanted to make Takasago's death simple and quick to try and show how fast it went for Sakura so I'd like feedback on how I did if possible! I'm gonna go more into depth later but let it be known too that I don't really expect too many tears lost on this OC since she's been around for just a couple of chapters - will expand on that topic later :)**

 **Also kinda concerned I swerved a lil too far into canon territory but my thinking behind Kakashi getting caught in the water prison was both Sakura's reasoning and that it makes sense that Zabuza would want to do that? I mean, if I were Zabuza, catching your opponent in a water prison is the best possible outcome you could get so of course I'd try to do that first thing. I'd be concerned about his prowess as a ninja if he DIDN'T try to do that.**

 **Hopefully it was different enough and had a good number of bits of info dotted around but I know a lot of you guys really don't want any of this to follow canon so I hope you'll excuse this incident!**

 **Review Question:**

 **Do you blame Naruto for what happened?**

 **I think it is somewhat his fault Takasago died considering he is the one who acted purely on emotion and punched Gatō in the face, but, at the same time, I consider it to be a mixture of faults: Sakura for leaving Tazuna to die, Gatō for being a dick, Zabuza for being the one to actually KILL Takasago, Takasago for actually throwing herself into the way of the sword (although she did it to save Yoyotose's life), ect.**

 **Sakura playing the blame game helps no one except perhaps herself.**


	14. Advice most needed

_There was around a hundred reviews since I posted the last chapter (more than I've ever gotten before oh my god) so sorry about the lack of reviewer replies! I've just never dealt with such a large number before haha…_

 _Thank you to anyone who reviewed though! I read them all and so many of you are so sweet, thank you so much for your nice words :)_

* * *

 _ **Ryooyaku Kuchi ni Nigashi.**_

" _ **Good medicine is bitter to the mouth."**_

 _ **Advice most needed is least heeded.**_

* * *

The first thought I had upon waking up to complete darkness was that I'd never felt so horrendously _shit_ in both my lifetimes.

A layer of sweat and dirt covered my skin, tangled strands of hair clinging uncomfortably to my forehead and neck. The minor burns that were dotted around my face felt itchy, tight, _hot_ , whereas the rest of my body couldn't seem to decide whether I was roasting alive or freezing to death. My nose felt stuffy, my throat felt as though something had been lodged in it, and my shoulder, _oh god, my shoulder-_

I bit back a pathetic whimper, half because I didn't like the idea of vocalizing my own pain particularly and half because _I didn't know where I was and who would hear it._

Forcing my way through the haze of sleep clinging to my mind, I tried to concentrate on the chakra signals around me. Naruto's, unsurprisingly, was the first to spring out at me, followed by Sasuke's and, finally, the slow, quiet pulse of Kakashi's, only noticeable because the jōnin was _right_ beside me. Initially, it was a reassuring sensation, then decidedly _not_ when the realization he was chakra exhausted and probably still unconscious hit. The fact that I wasn't really that _good_ at sensing chakra and wouldn't actually be able to tell if there were any enemies around didn't make me feel any better, although I took comfort in that my teammates weren't moving much and the lack of unfamiliar voices.

 _We made camp then,_ I thought, realizing the reason for the darkness was that I was inside a tent. It was probably night-time too, the idea bringing up an array of internal reactions. Night was the best time to stage an attack, but, excluding when he was using his silent killing technique, Zabuza was all shades other than _sneaky._ Considering how crap I still felt too, I couldn't have been out for _that_ long, so the man was almost certainly only at the beginning of his recovery from his fight against Kakashi.

Ultimately, relief was what won, helped by the sleep that still clung to me, which wanted to pretend there wasn't that pressing a reason to jump to my feet yet.

I eased myself onto the side of my good shoulder, ignoring the groaning of the muscles pulling on my injured one. The movement made me aware of the makeshift sling someone had made for me and, beyond that, the clothing on my body that wasn't mine. _I had gotten mine soaked,_ I recalled somewhat absentmindedly as I noticed there was somebody that wasn't Kakashi in the tent, the jōnin most definitely laid on my other side.

There was a brief moment of panic before my eyes adjusted enough to see who they were. I had a faint recollection of a jutsu that existed which allowed you to see in the dark (the name _ankokutoshi_ sprung to the foreground of my mind), but it involved chakra in and around your sensitive, fragile eyes so not many people ever learnt it. Especially not a genin like me who didn't have the original Sakura's perfect chakra control. Luckily, my lack of knowledge of the jutsu didn't matter much in this situation, recognizing the mystery person after a couple of seconds of staring even through the darkness.

Tazuna looked awful.

His face was caked in a mixture of dried blood and mud, one eye black and swollen and nose unnaturally crooked. The blanket he'd been placed under covered most of the rest of his body but any visible skin was either bruised or marked with cuts that had come from a whip most likely. _Torture for fun, not information,_ I noted somewhat clinically through the repulsion of the sight. It made sense, Gatō wouldn't have _caught_ Tazuna for the information. He'd caught him to stop the bridge. To make another example. To crush the small, weak rebellion that was starting to form against him.

A thought danced across my mind, fingers twitching towards my right leg.

 _If I…across the neck…_

I killed the thought borne from desperation and fear that must have wormed it's way into brain long ago to exist in a state where I should have been too tired to feel such intense emotions. A foul, bitter taste rose up into my mouth and I squeezed my eyes shut for a few moments, concentrating on my breathing.

There were so many things _wrong_ with the idea I didn't know where to start tearing it down, shoving it away violently. God, the fact I'd even considered it in that split second was enough to make me feel nauseous. _Although it'd be so easy, he wouldn't even feel it, just one simple cut, it's not like I haven't killed before-_

 _ **No.**_

I choked on a breath as I sat up, pain rippling down my shoulder and arm once more. The walls of the tent now seemed suffocating, trapping me inside with thoughts I didn't want to be having, _shouldn't_ be having. It was the desperation that was whispering, not what I truly believed, and, most likely, I wouldn't succumb to committing the act it wanted, but I suddenly didn't trust myself. Some part of me was thankful my kunai holster and weapons pouch had been put elsewhere (although, when Zabuza's name flickered across my mind again, that same part got much, much smaller).

Awkwardly, I crawled towards one of the walls of the tent, feeling for the entrance flap with this barely restrained panicked urgency. Upon finding it, I slipped outside immediately, struggling to my feet and breathing in the cool air. My eyes found the fire and consequently Sasuke almost instantly, the Uchiha having heard my movement and twisted round to see who was there. A kunai lay across his knee, fingers toying with the loop at the end of the hilt so that it could be spun and thrown at a moment's notice.

I flinched, instinct kicking in at the sight of a potential enemy before common sense could override it and the jerk of my arm forcing me to bite down another wince. Sasuke's eyes widened fractionally at the flicker of pain that must've been obvious across my face and in the back of my mind I registered that it was mildly disconcerting to see him looking at me with something other than hostility. The usual scowl returned quickly enough once it was clear I wasn't about to keel over. "You shouldn't be up."

 _Somewhat aggressive concern._

It was at least a minor improvement on his normal attitude towards me.

"Probably not," I ended up agreeing in a croaky voice, wanting to shrug but deciding it was definitely a bad idea. I half stumbled over to the fire, all too aware Sasuke was watching my every movement closely although not being able to bring myself to care. He was regarding the arm in my sling with particular attention; arms were the lifeline of a ninja after all and, as a Uchiha, he especially would consider the value of ninjutsu highly. I wiggled my fingers as a test, noting how they ached but at a bearable level of pain, and there was a wave of relief that accompanied the warmth of the fire I was now standing beside.

Jutsus had been a saving grace for me against both enemies I'd faced. I didn't want to have to deal with the prospect of being without them in a situation like this. _Ever_.

I eased myself into a squatting position, weight positioned evenly across my feet. A large part of me wanted to just collapse onto the ground but I wasn't quite sure whether I'd be able to get up quickly enough if something did go wrong (logic dictated we were safe for now, however, I wasn't exactly the most _rational_ person to exist). "How long have I been out?" Information was good. Information meant I could make a plan and cling to it for dear life. And I was going to need a plan fast judging by how my thoughts were threatening to run down the dark rabbit hole of horrors at the situation I was in that my sleepiness had barred the entrance to; _Zabuza, Gatō, Tazuna, Takasago-_

"Around seven hours." Sasuke didn't bother to be stubborn about talking to me. We were in a bad situation and being petty would just waste precious time and energy.

 _Although we've clearly fulfilled the 'wasting time' quota,_ I then thought, mentally wincing. That was a _long_ time to have spent just sleeping, more than I'd gotten most nights on this mission. And for Kakashi to have been out for that long too…

"We haven't seen anyone else the entire time," the Uchiha continued, nudging a stick with his foot. The statement didn't offer much reassurance. It just meant that either there really had been no enemies passing us by or ones good enough to not be spotted.

A loud snore made me snap my head around to see our blonde teammate laid sprawled on the ground right by the tent I'd been in, kunai that he'd been presumably holding dropped next to him. He looked so _disgustingly_ peaceful in his sleep that the anger I thought I'd left behind at the scene of the fight against Zabuza returned full force, bitter and twisted. "Hmph, that moron," Sasuke muttered, although his voice didn't hold nearly the same amount of frustration that I felt. "Making all that fuss running about everywhere and then being the first to fall asleep."

On closer observation, I could see the lines of worry on Naruto's face and the marks he'd made by digging his bitten fingernails into his palms, but the fact he'd been panicking only really served to make me more irritated.

 _Not now, Sakura._

I tore my eyes away, shifting my weight around to assess the rest of my surroundings. The second tent had been erected to my right and the entrance flap left open, allowing full view of its occupants. The four beautiful women were all huddled up inside. Orihae, the youngest, was curled up with one hand clinging to Ukihashi's torn sleeve and Matsubito had her head buried in the crook of her girlfriend's neck. They were all asleep - or at least I'd initially thought so before seeing Yoyotose's eyes cracked open by the barest amount, one arm holding onto the blonde woman's waist tightly whilst her other hand gripped the familiar, small fan.

Emotions pressed painfully against my chest and I flicked my gaze away sharply only to catch Sasuke staring at the same thing. He realized he'd be caught following my line of vision but, after the automatic darting of the eyes, held my stare with furrowed eyebrows, hesitating. "...They said Zabuza killed Takasago."

 _The huge wound across the chest, blood flying through the air, splintered ribs, vacant eyes._

My toes curled up. "Well, they're not lying." Somehow it felt a little like a lie though. The memory was still there in my mind and crystal clear; _murder_ in high definition that played on and against my will in my mind. Yet time made it confusing and unresolved, not helped by how it had been so sudden and there had been no opportunity in the moment to fully comprehend and mourn the loss of life. Takasago's death had just incurred the fear that I would be next.

Sasuke seemed to struggle to find a response to my answer. I wondered briefly what reaction he'd been expecting me to have if anything. He eventually decided on some noise of acknowledgement, turning his gaze back to the fire, grip tightening on the kunai in his lap. I restrained the sigh of relief that he wasn't going to attempt to probe deeper - I didn't want to talk to anyone particularly about what had happened, especially not my angst-ridden teammate.

(I mused somewhat hysterically however whether I would take over his role as that fairly soon.)

It couldn't have been more than a few minutes of this tense, strained silence before a loud thump made us both turn around to look at the tent I'd come from, Naruto being jolted awake by the noise. He blinked rapidly, sitting up sharpish and twisting his head around to look in all directions. "Wha-?!" His eyes momentarily caught onto me and burning, deep _guilt_ flourished across his face, gaze snapping to the ground as his face flushed red. Naruto's attention was then stolen away by the sound of more movement, the boy this time recognizing what the source was and shoving his head through the tent flap. " _Kakashi-sensei!_ You're up!"

 _Thank_ _ **fuck**_ _._

Sasuke visibly relaxed at the same time I did, kunai he'd been holding in a ready position hanging loosely from his hand instead. He then looked inordinately embarrassed by his obvious relief and I found it in me to feel a smidgen of dry amusement at the sudden dust of pink across his cheekbones.

I straightened up uncomfortably out of my squatting position as I heard Kakashi ask Naruto with soft impatience where Sasuke and I were. The fact he didn't enquire the wellbeing of our clients first somehow stood out to me, although it made _sense_ that his actual team's status would be of higher priority to him. Naruto's answer was a babbling torrent of words that I didn't bother trying to make sense of, Kakashi clearly sharing the same sentiment and opting to poke his head out of the tent instead of asking Naruto to repeat himself.

A hard grey eye swept over the surroundings, noting mine and Sasuke's presence with a degree of relief and sag of the shoulders. "Ah, Sasuke, Sakura, are you two alright?" His tone was teasing and light whilst his gaze was anything _but,_ boring into us mercilessly. Even so, Sasuke gave a simple grunt in reply whilst I resisted the urge to say that I was doing _absolutely_ _terrible, thanks for asking._ Kakashi took our lack of comprehensive response favourably, lips curving into a smile. "Good, good."

He crawled out of the tent in the same undignified manner I assumed I had done although he was far more unstable once upright. Once Naruto had scampered out as well, still babbling away, Kakashi placed his hand on the blonde's head in what was meant to be seen as an affectionate pat but instead was probably for much-needed support.

My chest felt tight again and I hammered down the instinctive thought of _**run**_ _._

"How are our clients doing?" Kakashi then asked, effectively shutting Naruto up, blue eyes darting towards me and then the ground in this deep sense of shame and guilt. Sasuke was the one to answer both surprising and unsurprisingly. He described the wellbeing of the women with words clean and concise, just like how we'd been taught to deliver reports to commanding officers in the Academy.

"And Takasago is dead," he finished with finality I didn't feel towards her death, gaze flickering to me for a split second. Kakashi did the same although he didn't look particularly shocked by the news. He'd probably come to the conclusion about the woman's death the second I'd shown up to the fight with Zabuza without her.

"I see." Kakashi flexed the hand that wasn't resting on Naruto's head, stare growing sharp and thoughtful at the appendage. He then passed his gaze over the three of us again, as if deliberating on something. "Wake them up."

Sasuke hesitated before nodding curtly, Naruto ducking his head too and heading towards the women in a stumbling rush. I didn't move, only half because my two teammates would be enough to wake all of the women. Kakashi hobbled over to me, gaze having slipped to my bad shoulder. "Ah, yes, sorry about your shoulder by the way." His words were light but it was obvious he genuinely regretted causing the injury by flinging me away from Zabuza with the force he had. Then again, it was better than if he had left me there. Coming out of close quarters with one of the seven swordsmen of the mist with only a few burns and a dislocated shoulder to show for it could practically be considered a _miracle._

"I guess it means we're even," I muttered half-heartedly under my breath.

His smile became a little more real at my reference to how I'd broken his arm. "I suppose so." Kakashi eased himself onto the ground beside the fire, using a shaky arm to prop himself up as our clients emerged from the tent. I hesitated before returning to my squatting position from before, ignoring the jōnin's observation of this in favour of watching the women take their places by the fire too.

Ukihashi was gazing at Kakashi with bags under her eyes but immense relief, it being clouded by how he did not look exactly _well._ Orihae seemed to share the same sentiment, although Matsubito held no reassurance in her stare, only fear and grief. Yoyotose held her girlfriend by the waist, eyes dulled but lips quirking into the smallest of smiles upon meeting my gaze. They all sat around the fire in an almost parody of how they had the previous nights when we'd been eating dinner together, voices that had been loud with laughter and amusement silent.

Naruto for once sat willingly beside Sasuke, hunched up and miserable looking. Kakashi noted this but said nothing about it. _Our relationship as teammates isn't the most pressing of matters at the moment after all._ Instead, the jōnin took in a deep breath before starting. "I will keep this discussion short." The light tone from earlier was gone, voice steeped in solemness at the gravity of the situation. "Firstly, on behalf of my team, I sincerely apologize for our failure to protect Takasago. As the squad leader, I accept full responsibility for her death. In return, I ask for your complete cooperation in the events that are to come."

Most of the women looked stunned by his words, Naruto snapping his head round too to stare in disbelief at Kakashi. In a way, the man wasn't wrong. Had he been there when Naruto had first spotted Tazuna then this whole situation could have easily been avoided. And, considering the mess that was team seven, he should have been there with the full expectation that something was to go wrong like that.

But, then again, a jōnin-sensei wasn't _just_ a glorified genin babysitter. He was our squad leader and we were his soldiers, and there was meant to be a degree of trust that we wouldn't ruin everything the second he turned his back. Besides, judging by how this mission had gone through the system in the first place, Kakashi hadn't had a reason to suspect Naruto would have an opportunity to do something that would directly lead to a missing-nin _murdering_ one of our clients.

It was a C-rank for crying out loud! Stuff like that just didn't happen on a C-rank.

"We understand, Hatake." Ukihashi was the one to respond to his words, voice gentle but face twisted with grief. "And of course you have our complete cooperation."

Kakashi looked relieved. I wondered how many times he'd had to have this conversation with a client before and how many times he hadn't gotten such an understanding answer in response. It would have been incredibly easy for them to react like I had, I realized, pushing all the blame onto one single person and screaming at them, making it as difficult as possible to progress. Yet there Ukihashi sat, a semblance of forgiveness in her gaze and no anger to be seen.

Just...sadness.

"Then we come onto what we plan to do next," Kakashi continued. "Since Zabuza Momochi has become involved, I'd grade this mission as an A-rank, which is far beyond the capabilities of my team."

Naruto looked as though he wanted to argue then crumpled in on himself at the realization that it was true. He and Sasuke had barely been able to handle a _clone_ of the guy. I'd only been able to force the real one away from Kakashi because he was compromised too. The Uchiha gritted his teeth at this fact as well, clenching his fists and glaring at the ground.

"Therefore, I intend to call for backup." There was a pause as one of the women murmured 'back up?' and I stared at Kakashi in surprise. Somehow calling for backup had never crossed my mind as a viable option in a situation like this. Yet it was obvious _._ Calling for help was one of the first things you were _meant_ to do when you were out of your depth. "However, calling for backup means two things also. One, they will not arrive for at least five days and two, I, and, as extension, all of you, will not be able to move from here for around the same period of time."

For a second I thought my heart had completely stopped.

" _What_?" Matsubito was the one to choke the question out, eyes wide with horror.

Kakashi looked evenly at the woman. "I am fairly chakra exhausted. Calling for backup will result in my condition worsening somewhat as it will involve the use of chakra. If we attempt to move whilst I am in such a state then I sincerely doubt that I will be able to recover in time for when Zabuza moves after us again. Staying put however will allow me to recuperate at the same speed as him." Another pause to allow information to sink in. "If I was the only one in such a state I would contemplate telling you to move without me, however, considering Sakura's condition, only Naruto and Sasuke would be around to fend off any other attackers, which is not enough."

I barely acknowledge the following looks of surprise and glare originating from my two teammates, too busy not being able to breathe properly. _No. No, I can't stay here. Don't make me stay here._ Kakashi saw my horrified gaze, watched my lips form a silent 'no', and then glanced away as though he'd seen nothing. "Staying here will also allow us to better protect you, mystery man Naruto picked up."

There was a muffled grunt from inside one of the tents before the flap swung to the side, Tazuna shuffling into the open with a meek look at having been caught listening to our discussion and wince as he moved. "Konoha ninja, right?" He rasped, Naruto jumping to his feet to presumably help the man when he then stumbled although hesitating, anxious gaze flicking to me. "Don't worry, this old man can handle himself," Tazuna muttered before realizing the hypocrisy of his statement and wheezing out a pathetic laugh. He slumped down onto the ground with a loud thump, groaning at the pain the movement granted him.

Thoughts from earlier threatened to force themselves back into existence although they were effectively slaughtered by other more pressing ones; _we're staying, oh god, we're not going back to Konoha,_ _ **I'm going to die.**_

"Tazuna. I'm the main guy behind that bridge we're building to connect to the Land of Fire. Which is also why that bastard Gatō wants me dead," he explained, finishing with loud, spluttering coughs.

"The bridge…" Orihae's eyes flashed with recognition, no doubt recalling when we'd passed by it on our way to the Land of Waves. I could see Kakashi putting the pieces together, visible eye narrowing.

"You saved my life back there, and for a price too high for an old boy like me by the sounds of it," Tazuna continued, sincerity clear in his coarse voice. "I...I can't offer you much in return but if you need a place to stay then my daughter and I would be more than happy to put you up for as long as you need. Gatō knows where it is, however, it'll beat staying out here in the mist."

 _No._

"We're unlikely to be attacked for a few days at least so it doesn't matter if Gatō knows where we are exactly," Kakashi informed the man, seeming to seriously consider his offer.

 _ **No.**_

Sasuke was looking at me though with this kind of muted alarm and I hadn't even noticed my breathing had gotten this erratic, unable to drag it back to normal. Kakashi, who seemed to have been visibly ignoring my distress until now, spoke again. "It seems we have a slight disagreement in our team. Please excuse Sakura and me for a while; in the meantime, pack up and get ready to move." The jōnin told them all with hardly _any_ tact at all, heaving himself with some effort to his feet.

For a split second, I wanted to refuse to go with him.

Then his hand rested on my good shoulder and it was no longer my choice.

As I stood, everyone else started moving too, beginning to take down the tents whilst Kakashi steered me a far enough distance away so people couldn't hear us but were still in view. Once we stopped, there were a few seconds of quiet filled only with the sound of my attempts to regulate my breathing before Kakashi spoke. "What's wrong, Sakura?"

He knew exactly what was wrong.

I felt a short rush of anger mixed in with the terror that was squeezing my throat tight because I didn't want to play this game. I didn't want to have to explain to him why this was my nightmare come to life, didn't want to have to crawl through the memories in order to tell him why I was a mess, _didn't want to acknowledge that the fear was enough for my jōnin-sensei to finally ask what the hell was wrong with me-_

"I was going to _die_."

The words were practically squeezed from my mouth. They hung in the air in front of me, bold and daunting. Because that's all I'd done yesterday, stare death in the face. It had been there when the Demon Brothers had attacked, hovering when I saw the poison, leering when the mist and Zabuza had come, laughing when Takasago had died and glaring when I'd faced the swordsman head on.

In that moment I realized too that I didn't feel sad about Takasago's death, not really. I hadn't known the woman at all, merely skimmed the surface of her personality and character in the few days I'd spent with her. The closest thing that came to grief about the whole thing was the fact she'd had no last words, no final goodbye to the woman she'd died to save, no last message, nothing. It was where the lack of finality towards her death came from.

And I'd done the same thing to that Demon Brother, killed him before he'd even managed to scream.

Kakashi's gaze was heavy on me. "But you didn't." I opened my mouth to rebuke, to say how _close_ I'd been, to declare it was luck and the fault of miracles that I was still breathing, however, he didn't give me the chance. "Sakura, I will be brutally honest with you right now so listen carefully." His voice took on a more brisk and stern tone. "When you were separated from the group I was around thirty percent certain you would die then. And, when you ran at Zabuza, around ninety-five. _However,_ you are alive. Even more so, you saved not only me but the rest of our team."

"I was just lucky," I half choked out the words I'd wanted to say earlier. _And luck won't save me again. If we stay, I will die._

His gaze got heavier. "There is a point where modesty becomes an insult not just to yourself but others. Zabuza, an A-rank missing-nin, captured me, a jōnin, out of skill, not luck. For you to say that you then freed me from him because you were 'lucky' is quite the slur."

I flinched, the movement making my shoulder scream. _But I_ _ **was**_ _lucky. If I hadn't dropped underwater by accident I would've been completely caught in the explosion-_

"Sakura." He repeated my name. "Sakura, _look at me_." The commanding tone of his voice made my gaze flicker to his face, visible eye narrowed and lips pressed into a serious, firm line. "Against a C-rank ninja like the Demon Brothers perhaps you can argue that luck was a factor in your victory, but there is no such argument for that against an A-rank. You are alive because you are _skilled_. Had this been five or so years ago, your actions would have constituted for a field promotion without any question of whether you really deserved it. And now, if we are to encounter Zabuza again, I would consider your chances of dying at around seventy percent."

It sounded like a large number. And it was because, realistically, Zabuza would always come out on top against me, no question about it. But the increase of my chances of survival from five to thirty was also an incredibly _big_ leap.

It was the difference between certain death and fairly likely death. A difference my mind was already beginning to cling to for comfort.

"I'm not saying your fear is unjustified," Kakashi's voice then became a little softer. "Fear is what drives even the best of us to survive. But, if you allow this to continue, Sakura, it won't be the fight that kills you."

Ironically, his last words were what caused the largest bolt of terror so far.

I wrestled it down however ( _thirty-percent, thirty-percent, thirty-percent),_ and was rewarded with the most honest smile I'd seen yet. "You did a good job back there. I'm _very_ proud of you."

There was a bloom of pride within the other swirling, uncomfortable emotions. I'd been starved for a very long time of people being genuinely _impressed_ by me and praising my efforts. I don't think I would've even noticed had any of the praise offered to me been real anyway because it hadn't ever been a true testament of my abilities. So it felt... _good_ to be told I'd done well, regardless of how patronizingly the praise had been delivered and the situation it was being given in.

"Now, do you still object to our plan of action?" Kakashi then asked, grip on my shoulder tightening.

I paused before answering. Getting back up was important. If we were to head off without calling for them then Kakashi would be able to move, however, Zabuza would take him down easily considering he hadn't time to properly recover. It wouldn't matter that we were closer to said backup as we'd only be able to move as fast as our slowest members, which were civilians. A distance like that was easily made up by a ninja of Zabuza's caliber.

Staying wasn't exactly _good_ either, but it meant we could plan properly for the attack. We could set up traps, create diversions, fight in a terrain we knew. And we'd be well rested too from not having had to walk all day.

It was...the lesser of two evils, I begrudgingly admitted to myself.

( _Thirty-percent, thirty-percent, thirty-percent.)_

"No," I answered Kakashi, then more firmly, " _ **No**_ _._ I...agree with it."

He smiled again, although this time more ruefully. His eyes flickered to everyone else and, upon seeing they were still packing up, raised his voice again. "After your first kill, you are expected to see one of the counselors."

"I don't want to." The words came out this time without me having to force them from my mouth.

Kakashi sighed and patted my shoulder. "I expected so." He sounded almost sad about it. Regretful, with hints of nostalgia. "Don't worry, I won't force you to go. If I did I'm certain you'd just lie to them and regress into a worse state because of it." I couldn't stop myself from flinching at his correct assessment, biting back the wince of pain. " _However,_ I will offer you the compromise of talking to me about it when we get back to Konoha. I don't think the Hokage will be happy about it though…" Another sigh but this time it was lighter, tinged with amusement.

I raised an eyebrow despite myself. "Why ever would that be, sensei?"

"Ah, back to your usual self I see."

The smile hurt my face.

No more than five minutes later everything had been packed away, there almost being no sign that we had been there in the first place save the few pieces of ash and flattened grass. Kakashi nodding approvingly at this, although there was a sense of him only really valuing the job as 'good enough'. Pushing himself off of my shoulder, he stepped forwards on shaky legs, biting his thumb before running through the hand signs with blinding speed. He then slammed his hand into the ground, black writing scrawling out across the dirt only to be obscured by the puff of smoke.

A dog that somewhat resembled that of a greyhound emerged from the smoke, bandages wrapped around their head and neck and fur an auburn colour with white patches. "Hey, Kakashi, you don't look so good," they announced in a slightly concerned voice, Tazuna taking a moment to stare at the dog that had _just spoken._ Naruto looked equally surprised but why I didn't know.

Then again, it wasn't like he'd have paid attention in the summons class we had back in the Academy.

"I have had better days, Ūhei," the jōnin admitted, considerably more wobbly on his feet than before. I wondered if he was going to faint again since summons were meant to eat away quite a lot at your chakra, although chakra exhaustion could be pretty relative. What was small for Kakashi would probably do fine just by me. "I need you to get to the nearest Konoha outpost and request backup for my team, fast."

Ūhei glanced past him, gaze passing over Naruto, Sasuke and me thoughtfully. "Oh, so these are the pups you've taken on?" The dog wrinkled their nose. "They smell awful."

Naruto twitched. Sasuke glared. I thought their assessment was pretty fair.

"Don't be mean," Kakashi chided a little faintly, wobbling again. "This is urgent. Tell them the mission has been upgraded from a C to an A-rank."

The dog looked mildly surprised. "No wonder they're in such a terrible state. You do need to solve that habit of throwing people into the deep end, Kakashi."

"It wasn't my fault," the man replied almost defensively. "Now get a move on."

"Right, right…" Ūhei shot one last look at my teammates and I before scampering off _fast_ , leaving a dust trail in his wake.

Kakashi shook his head, smiling at a joke no one other than himself had quite gotten. " _Dogs_."

He then collapsed onto the ground again.

* * *

"Father!" Tsunami practically threw herself at Tazuna, tears flooding down her face as the older man yelped in pain and surprise. "Oh thank god, I thought- _I thought you were_ …!"

"Tsunami," Tazuna closed his eyes as he awkwardly patted his daughter on the back, smiling. "It's okay. I'm home now."

The woman pulled back, still crying but expression fraught with anxiety. "But how- how did you-" She cut off upon seeing the crowd of Naruto's carrying Kakashi, the jōnin giving a faint wave in response.

"These Konoha ninja helped me," Tazuna explained, stepping to the side to allow the Narutos to enter, all of them offering their own greetings to the now flabbergasted Tsunami. "They needed a place to stay along with their clients." His face then morphed into one of regret, eyes flickering to the floor. "They saved my life, but in doing so, one of their clients…"

Tsunami poked her head back around the door to see the group of women accompanied by Sasuke and me. She looked horrified by the awful state we must have been in, staring for a few moments before snapping back to reality and furiously wiping her tears away. "Oh, of course, they- please, come in, I'll run a bath and get you something to eat right away."

Ukihashi smiled at her although it did nothing to alleviate the sad air that clung to her. "Thank you," she half whispered as she passed by Tsunami, the rest of the women murmuring their own thanks when they followed. I entered the house after them, Sasuke being the last to pass through the door.

Once inside, I resisted the urge to wince at how cramped the house was, it only being further emphasized by how many people had been crammed into the room. Tsunami maneuvered around us all to get to one of the Narutos who was asking where Kakashi should be dropped off, Tazuna rasping out his own instructions to Ukihashi as to where they should go. Sasuke and I stood somewhat awkwardly in the doorway as the chaos was slowly taken control of, watching as cushions were pulled out and futons grabbed from cupboards. The Uchiha was then recruited to help set up said futons, leaving Tazuna and me alone in the kitchen/entrance.

"A day and a half, huh?" The man croaked, having at some point acquired a bottle of sake and sitting with his back to a wall.

I thought about Zabuza, the man that was still out there, alive, and baying for our blood. Then I considered the dog that Kakashi had sent off running and that percentage ( _thirty-percent, thirty-percent, thirty-percent)._

 _You can say that again._

* * *

 **Extra: The ripple that caused the tsunami**

 _(Kizashi's eyebrows shot up. "Land of Waves?" At my curious glance, his face morphed into a thoughtful expression. "I used to do a lot of business with people in that country. It's a small place but their shipping industry was incredible. A year or so ago though some big business guy started working there and I thought it was best not to encroach on his territory. But it was strange since he started gaining a lot of money but the Land of Waves became poorer and poorer. Well, there is an economic depression going on in a couple of countries though so it's not surprising." He shrugged before leaning forwards to ruffle my hair._

 _The seed of suspicion was still visible in his eyes, however. He'd been trained as a ninja after all and was a well-known merchant. If anyone would be able to see hints of immoral dealings going on in the Land of Waves then it would be him._

 _-Chapter 11)_

Kizashi sighed deeply, an uncharacteristically serious expression gracing features accustomed to easy-going smiles and laughter. A map on the Land of Waves was rolled out on his desk and in his hand a letter, logo in the right-hand corner proudly boasting ' _The Gatō Company'._ It had been written on expensive paper, Kizashi could tell by merely looking at it, and with long, pretty words, but the sneering threat of the message at its core was not lost on the man.

 _Get out of the Land of Waves before you piss me off._

Running a hand through his hair, Kizashi leaned back in his chair. He wasn't stupid. Whatever Gatō was planning to do in the Land of Waves was undoubtedly going to be a hideous mess of illegal and immoral activities. Kizashi had never had the _pleasure_ of meeting the billionaire himself but people whispered and all good merchants kept an ear out for such whispering. Gatō was never and would never be a good man. Of course, he was a brilliant businessman, Kizashi would give him that much, however, he was far from a paragon of virtue.

Along with the means to back up whatever threats he made.

Kizashi didn't like it but he was going to have to sever all his business ties with the Land of Waves. He could, of course, try to fight back and hire Konoha-nin to ensure Gatō couldn't physically hurt him or any of his workers. However, Gatō would just attack him in other ways. Konoha-nin might have been great to have on your side in a fight but they were hardly that useful in a battle of the legal kind when Gatō would inevitably pull some ridiculous laws out of his ass to kick Kizashi out of the Land of Waves for good.

He cast his eyes back to his desk, to the map which had one corner obscured by another letter. He'd been on the verge of actually carrying out some business with a man in the Land of Waves. And by on the verge, he meant that the wares were all boxed up and the money was going to have been exchanged within that week! God, he was going to have to cancel this all now-

" _I'm home_."

Kizashi sat up straight at the sound of his daughter's voice, lips automatically stretching into a smile. "Welcome home, Sakura!" He called. "Had a good day at school?" There was a non-committal noise in reply, making his smile widen even more.

A thought suddenly struck him of the man he was doing business with. He had a young son (or was it a step-son?) a bit younger than his own daughter. Kizashi prided himself on not allowing his emotions to entirely dictate his business choices but...

Grabbing a pen and a piece of paper, Kizashi began to write his apology to The Gatō Company, that their letter had arrived just that bit too late to stop him from finalizing that deal with that man in the Land of Waves.

(He could not of known the future he'd spun from that one choice based on emotion alone. That a family in the Land of Waves would acquire just that little bit more money than they were supposed to. That just that little bit more money would result in an old man staying just that little while longer with his family because they weren't quite desperate enough yet to go lie to Konoha-nin for help. That staying just that little while longer would mean Gatō's patience with the old man wearing thin whilst he was still in the Land of Waves rather than the Land of Fire. That with Gatō's main roadblock to his complete control over the small country finally out of the way he'd seek to hire a group of prostitutes to celebrate, who in turn would hire Konoha-nin themselves to complete the journey safely.

All because his daughter Sakura came straight home from school that day instead of staying out later with her friends like she was supposed to.)

* * *

 **Edit: Included that extra to explain butterfly effect! At one point I'll try to integrate this into the main part of the fic but for now it'll just exist as an extra. But yeah, Kizashi in this fic has been stated to have a direct connection to the Land of Waves so that's how Sakura affected things over there. Sakura's anti-social nature doomed them all lmao**

 **Ankokutoshi or ankoku-toshi no jutsu is a real technique that was said to be used by ninja to use in the dark. Thought that was an interesting little tidbit to include**

 **OH GOD THIS CHAPTER WAS AWFUL TO WRITE**

 **I hope it came out even semi-okay? I rewrote it like four times and I'm still a bit uugh about it**

 **I also hope the reasoning as to why they aren't moving makes sense too? I'm very willing to discuss with people why it might not be though so I can alter accordingly if need be!**

 **I'm excited about the upcoming chapters though. We're making a dip back into canon territory with them staying at Tazuna's house but, with back up being called for and Sakura mentioning how they're going to try and use the terrain to their advantage, we're going to have some (hopefully) interesting fights soon :)**

 **Review Question: Is Kakashi** _ **really**_ **being honest in his talk with Sakura about how skilled she is? Or is he just saying it to give her the mental fortitude to keep on going?**

 **There was definitely an element of luck to Sakura's fight against Zabuza no matter what Kakashi says, however, I'd say he does genuinely believe her to be of chūnin rank, so he's not entirely lying.**


	15. Under the bridge

_**Family are over right now so sorry if I didn't get round to replying to some of your reviews! If you still have a question you really want answered just PM/review and I'll try my best to get round to them!**_

* * *

 _ **Mizu ni nagasu**_

" _ **Let flow in water."**_

 _ **Forgive and forget; water under the bridge**_

* * *

I didn't sleep for the rest of the night/morning. I'd already had plenty rest due to falling unconscious earlier, more than any of my teammates. Of course, that excluded Kakashi who had, after being laid down in Tazuna's house and remarking on the report of there being no enemies in our immediate vicinity, become dead to the world.

Neither of my other teammates commented much on my lack of desire to sleep. Naruto looked as though he wanted to tell me I should be resting but, ever since my scathing words earlier, he didn't really seem to want to initiate any form of conversation with me, eyes darting to the ground and face twisting with guilt. Sasuke shot a couple of glares that could've been anything between 'rest, you're injured' to 'I don't trust you to properly keep watch in your state', although stress and exhaustion caught up to him quickly enough and he collapsed onto a futon in a rather 'undignified' manner for a Uchiha.

Tsunami gently enquired as to whether I should be asleep when she saw me padding across the house practically silently however she gave up easily too once I said something about watching out for enemies. She did murmur about young people, especially one that was injured, needing adequate hours of sleep, her concern standing out to me before I remembered the Land of Waves didn't have their own ninjas.

In Konoha, we were treated more as adults who shouldn't have to be babied. Not even my parents were likely to thusly question my lack of sleep. Tsunami hadn't been brought up to believe that a headband equalled (semi) adulthood. She just saw these kids carrying around weaponry and injuries and had no idea whether to react with genuine, horrified concern or nod faintly and accept this strange reality.

I explored the majority of the house whilst everyone slept. " _A prepared ninja is a good ninja,"_ Iruka had chanted several times at my class, often to praise those who had brought all their equipment and try to persuade Naruto/Kiba to remember their school stuff. In this case, I was counting knowledge of my environment as preparation despite the fact I had no doubt the house would be quickly destroyed by Zabuza if attacked by him. Information was safety and, with Kakashi out cold and killers slinking around in the mist, that was something I wanted. Desperately.

The house wasn't that big like I'd correctly assessed upon first seeing it. Counting one bathroom, the kitchen/entrance, and three smallish bedrooms, there were only five rooms and a little balcony on the second floor. Our clients were occupying the largest bedroom, team seven the second and the last by the actual owners. I spotted Inari in that one, dead asleep and stirring by the slightest amount when Tazuna greeted him with a soft ruffle of the hair.

There were a few random cupboards dotted around the house although only big enough for two at the very most to squeeze into. Someone could theoretically squeeze underneath the kitchen sink but, as hiding spots, they were pretty weak. Academy kids choosing places to hide from enemy ninja _weak._

I did however note that underneath the small wooden walkway that allowed the house to hang over the sea there was enough room between the marked highest tide level and the planks for someone with chakra training to hide themselves flush against the wood. It weighed on my mind that someone could actually attack from underneath the house but I then decided it was unlikely someone would do so. I couldn't imagine Zabuza sneakily swimming up from underwater with the water restricting the strength of his sword swings and Haku's outfit meant he'd be considerably weighed down if he did so. There were 'tricks' for drying yourself off fast after being drenched although most people didn't bother learning them.

My exploration didn't take me beyond two metres outside of the house. I was painfully aware of the fact my shoulder restricted my fighting prowess greatly and that, even though Zabuza wouldn't try attacking us for a little while yet, I could face some difficulty fighting off the thugs Gatō had hired. It was unlikely they'd really beat me, yes, but sheer numbers could make up for lack of chakra, especially if they were fighting an injured ninja.

Morning came up fast. Dawn was a particularly beautiful scene with the sun rising from the sea and painting the water and sky several shades of pink and orange. Sasuke woke up dead on six o'clock, internal body clock almost terrifying in its accuracy. Naruto's was less so, the blonde waking up half an hour later and only then because he smelt food. Tsunami smiled awkwardly when we descended downstairs whilst Tazuna, with his new crutches, offered a raspy 'good morning'.

Our clients were still asleep and there was no telling when Kakashi would return to the world of the living so breakfast started off as a rather quiet affair. The food was a mixture of what Tsunami had already had and the rations we'd offered up since we'd doubted they'd have enough for eight extra people. It wasn't the nicest meal I'd ever had but it was wolfed down regardless, taste secondary to the energy it would give. Once I was halfway through my plate, Tazuna began to talk, wringing his hands together somewhat anxiously.

"I wanted to wait until your teacher woke up but I suppose you're all owed a better explanation as to what's going on in this country than those few lines I spouted last night." His eyes darted towards his daughter who was washing up the cooking utensils she'd been using in the sink, grip tightening on the handle of the pan she'd been holding when he'd started talking. "Like I said before, Gatō wants me dead because I'm the man in charge of that bridge we're building. He doesn't want the construction to be completed because it'll mean we can get out of the iron grip he has on our country's economy by trading with the Land of Fire amongst other things."

"You see, our shipping industry used to be very strong and rake in a lot of money but, by using his vast wealth, Gatō took control of it all and left everyone here extremely poor. The bridge is our last hope of getting him out of power and we only have one shot at it, and there's hardly enough for the one shot at that. As the one in charge of it, my absence will cause the whole project to collapse quite literally, which is why I was targeted." Tazuna then paused, staring down at the table and clenching his fists. "Had you not been there, I'm certain that my deat- ... _passing_ would've resulted in the bridge never being completed. Which is why I'm so thankful you saved my life. It gives me the chance to save my daughter and grandson too." He bowed his head, Tsunami abandoning the washing to rush over and press her hand into her father's shoulder.

"I'm just glad you got home safe," she murmured with a somewhat tearful expression, Tazuna reaching up to place his hand on top of his daughter's with equally watery eyes.

Naruto hesitated before answering, putting down his chopsticks and furrowing his brows. "To be this bad...shouldn't Konoha have done something to help?" He asked aloud, eyes meeting mine and painful flush making him hunch up his shoulders and stare a hole into his lap.

My knee jerk reaction was that of course Konoha hasn't done anything; we were a village, not the United Nations. To do things out of charity wasn't a _ninja_ thing to do, especially not when there was a supposed economic depression going on for several countries.

Then, I paused.

Naruto's question, although made out of mere naivety and ingrained belief that Konoha was _good_ , actually brought up some curious issues.

The Land of Waves was in a terrible state, which was why Naruto had asked the question in the first place. The citizens were so poor that they couldn't afford ninjas to help them escape their poverty-stricken fate and were forced to make this bridge their last ditch attempt at a better life. The entire country was being controlled by Gatō, a rich, awful, small concoction of a man, who hired a combination of thugs and missing-nin to do his dirty work.

All of that was common knowledge here, as obvious as the fact that the sky was blue and Naruto was orange.

 _So, why had we been sent here?_

A C-rank escorting prostitutes to a poor country was one thing, but a C-rank escorting prostitutes to a very small, poor country where missing-nin were being hired by their 'ruler', who happened to be the prostitutes' client was something entirely different.

Konoha shouldn't have sent us. They should've had the information to know that, considering the small size of the country, the likelihood of us running into one of Gatō's hired mercenaries was high. Gatō was one of the richest men alive so there was no argument for Konoha not knowing everything he was doing; money is what makes the world go round and I had no delusions of my village being unaware of this and not keeping close tabs on those hoarding the most wealth.

Even if they hadn't expected missing-nin for some ridiculous reason, Gatō's wealth was reason enough to get people on the mission that would be politically savvy in order to deal with situations involving or caused by him. And team seven was, with Naruto, the exact _opposite_ of that. For crying out loud, this was our _first C-rank._ You don't send a team like that to a country where the situation was so complicated to navigate through! Or at the very least you tell the jōnin in charge so he doesn't leave the unpredictable ball of orange alone for a goddamn second.

It was beyond the realm of simple common sense and I could see a very obvious reason which would explain why team seven had been given the mission in the first place:

An information vacuum.

For some reason, Konoha hadn't known Gatō had gotten to the extent of hiring missing-nin. Someone had purposefully restricted the information, made it so that Konoha, or at least the Hokage, hadn't known (because as much as the man tested me, him knowingly pushing us into such a dangerous situation was not the action of a man smart enough to run a village of ninjas).

 _So, who was that someone?_

The fact information was what was being thrown around and hidden immediately made me think of Danzō. He was definitely powerful enough to stop something like that reaching certain groups, no doubt about it. But what for? What could Danzō have been doing here to warrant that?

The Land of Waves _was_ rather strategically placed. Close enough to the Land of Fire for people to water walk over. A small stepping stone towards the Land of Water. The shipping industry was also good enough to give Konoha another advantage if in a war. And if Konoha had some hand in freeing the citizens from Gatō's rule then we'd have their complete loyalty.

Controlling the Land of Water was an appetizing prospect for many villages and groups.

Danzō could have been controlling Gatō and meaning to take him down at the perfect moment. Further than that, he could have been waiting for Konoha to have a legitimate reason to take over the country and we, the inexperienced, likely to fuck up genin team were meant to be the catalyst. But then there were the ties to the coup attempt on Mizukage considering Zabuza and Haku's presence. That also screamed Danzō's name although it was difficult to connect the dots properly and untangle the threads of conspiracies that might not even exist.

Then there was the question of whether the information vacuum was more as a result of team seven. Despite our lack of political savviness, we were an incredibly politically sensitive team. Naruto was the son of the last Hokage and the jinchuuriki. Sasuke was one of the last Uchiha clan members in existence. Kakashi was infamously strong and had ties to conspiracies here, there and everywhere as an ex-ANBU member. And, although it might be the paranoia speaking, I had been pencilled down as an _extreme_ flight risk and had fooled people for years into thinking I was weaker than I was.

It was a morbid thought to consider but, if someone wanted one of us dead, this mission had been more than an ample opportunity for it.

We were far enough away from the village. There were no teams nearby to immediately help if the situation turned dire (like it had). There wasn't any obvious evidence for there having been foul play involved. _An unexpected addition of missing-nin to the mission regretfully got a member of team seven killed in a tragic turn of events._

Except that created loose threads too that I couldn't tie to anything else. Everyone aside from me had bodies that would need to be collected by Konoha for the safety of the village - and even then my chakra manipulation might wrongly be considered a technique that could be observed so mine would need collecting also. And, if I was the target, there was no point in taking us so far away from Konoha on a mission to such a sensitive place. A simple bodyguard mission inside the Land of Fire would suffice and an assassination in the middle of the night. I wasn't from any important clan or officially beyond the genin rank. If Danzō was behind this he'd get away scot free even if someone tied it back to him.

Everything was too convoluted a mess to make any sense of, and that was before even considering people other than Danzō having their hand in this. That was half for my own peace of mind though. The idea of corruption in Konoha scared me less than this information vacuum being the result of some unknown party or sheer incompetence.

The sound of stairs creaking brought me out of my thoughts and I turned alongside Sasuke and Naruto to see Inari standing there. He must have just woken up but he already looked positively miserable, lips pressed into an unhappy line and the skin around his eyes dark and red from a combination of lack of sleep and crying.

"Inari!" Tazuna's lips stretched into a wide smile and he opened his arms for a hug, the boy stumbling across the floor and crashing into his arms. "He's my grandson." He told us as he patted Inari's back. Naruto's eyes flashed with this understanding and deep, bitter longing whilst Sasuke's expression twisted into something unreadable. "Inari, these are the ninjas I told you about. The ones that saved your grandpa's life."

At this, Inari disengaged himself from the hug and rubbed his hand underneath his nose, gaze jumping from Sasuke to me to Naruto then back to his grandfather. "They're going to die," he declared with this finality and sullen tone that was strange to associate a child speaking with.

I spoke without really thinking. "Oh look, Sasuke, it's your new best friend who hates the world as much as you do."

Naruto choked on the guffaw that rose up his throat, hand slamming over his mouth. Sasuke blinked, registering the words, then glared at me. "Sakura, _shut up._ "

There was something to be said however about how his words were less seeped in hostility than before, carrying now just more irritation than he usually directed at Naruto. _The wonders surviving a life and death situation does for broken relationships with teammates,_ I thought dryly. _Although, it did admittedly do more to ruin whatever bond I had with Naruto._

Inari seemed somewhat taken aback by my response to his words but the surprise then turned to typical childish behaviour of demanding an acknowledgement of what he'd just said. It reminded me so much of Ami that I suddenly felt this wish to be back in the Academy where my biggest irritation was her arrogance and bullying habits. "Did you hear me? You're all going to die! You won't win against Gatō!"

"Do you think we should try waking Kakashi-sensei up?" I asked deliberately before Naruto could open his mouth.

Sasuke, who clearly despised Inari's 'give up and wait for death' attitude, nodded. "It's been long enough."

Inari clenched his fists. " _I said-_ "

I stood up suddenly and saw out of the corner of my eye the boy flinch. "Tsunami-san, could I have some water to take up to our _sensei_?"

The woman's eyes darted between her son and me before she nodded hesitantly, moving towards the sink and picking a pitcher up off the side. Inari stared at me for a moment, eyes wide, then let out this frustrated huff and stormed back up the stairs. A door slammed a few seconds later and Tazuna and his daughter both sighed in unison. "Sorry about him." The boy's grandfather hung his head. "He didn't mean any harm, he just…"

"As long as he doesn't say that stuff around the other women," I replied quietly, fully aware of how my teammate's gazes rested on me. Tazuna paled a little, realizing the damage that Inari could have caused if he'd been talking to our clients. Although, I got the impression that Inari wouldn't have known what to actually do if he'd caused the adult women to be reduced to tears. He might've made all these declarations of misery and hopelessness but he probably wanted to be rebuked or just simply comforted.

Which was why my complete lack of acknowledgement of anything he was saying had made him react in such a way.

 _Kids._

* * *

"Hmm…" Kakashi poured over the maps laid out on the floor in front of us with a thoughtful expression. He looked a little healthier than yesterday, able to at the very least sit up without his supporting arms shaking incessantly. His chakra reserves were still incredibly depleted although I doubted it would be long until he could walk around with ease and at least hold his own in a battle of taijutsu.

The maps had been given to us by Tazuna, who was sat a little way away from my team and eyeing the weaponry laid out across the floor somewhat warily. It had been one of the first things Kakashi had asked for upon being woken up by Naruto (an event that was mildly amusing to watch considering it involved five or so clones shrieking into the man's ear to _get up already_ ), and I felt a little sheepish for having not thought up the request myself.

There were three maps currently laid out, two others having been rolled up and discarded immediately for their lack of clear information. One was of the entire island, another of a closer snapshot of the town Tazuna and his family lived in, and the last of the (infamous) bridge. "I'm assuming we're here?" Kakashi then questioned aloud, picking up two counters and drawing the number 'seven' on both of them before placing them down on the first two maps carefully. Tazuna leaned over to see, then nodded.

 _On the outskirts of the town then,_ I thought. On the one hand, it meant we were less likely to drag innocent civilians into any fighting but on the other crowds were good for losing people in. And, considering Haku's personality and Zabuza's 'professionalism', it wasn't as if they were going to go around cutting innocents down anyway, even if they got in the way. Zabuza hadn't killed Takasago and gone after us young genin because he was pure evil. He'd done it because it was his job.

And because he was in the very _dark_ grey area of morality.

"What's the population of this town?" Kakashi asked Tazuna again, now focusing on that particular map.

"A few thousand? It's hard to tell these days since there are so many people who try to leave."

 _The key word being 'try'._ I squirmed internally at the thought. It wasn't a nice idea, to imagine those who had tried to escape the Land of Waves. Gatō wouldn't have wanted that; what was the point of controlling an island and it's shipping industry if there wasn't anyone to work for you?

Then there was the fact that starvation was likely to have become a problem and the numbers would have declined as a result of that too - an issue that made Gatō's desire to keep the numbers up in the Land of Waves by not allowing people to leave somewhat hypocritical. All in all, the town was small and getting smaller. Although, it was large enough that we could in theory not be noticed as newcomers since not everyone could know everyone.

"How many work on the bridge?"

"Less than one hundred." Tazuna winced a little at the figure. "And rapidly decreasing too. The people of this town are terrified of Gatō."

Kakashi continued to stare thoughtfully at the maps. "So I'm guessing asking how many people are loyal enough to you to help would be redundant."

Tazuna hung his head. "Unfortunately, you're correct. Not even those who have been helping me from the start would be willing. Their lives hang enough in the balance already, as they would say." There was a tinge of bitterness to his tone. It was probably frustrating for him to see everyone around him giving up whilst he soldiered on, knowing that the day he stopped whatever hope they had of freeing themselves from Gatō died.

Even I knew that giving up was the wrong move but being brave was difficult, probably even more so for civilians who had never been trained to fight and soldier on.

The jōnin nodded understandingly before bringing out another counter and marking it was a 'G', placing it onto the map of the country. "There's where Gatō's base is. So, team, what do you think?"

"About what?" Naruto asked with a confused frown.

"Well, for starters, how about where you think our enemies will first attack us from?" He gave us a crinkly eyed smile as the three of us leaned a little forward to better take in the maps. "You first, Sasuke."

The Uchiha furrowed his brow in concentration before drawing a straight line from the 'G' counter to ours with his finger. "They'd be direct," he declared simply.

"And why's that?"

Sasuke answered immediately. "Because there is no reason to be otherwise. They already know we're expecting them so why waste time and energy going a longer route?"

"Hm." Kakashi didn't remark on his argument however this whole scene otherwise reminded me of strategy classes back in the Academy. We'd be given a set of information, a couple of maps and then a time limit to discuss and decipher where the enemy was, their strategies, their intentions, ect. As someone who had read so many books on strategies and planning, I'd actually really enjoyed those classes, although that enjoyment had turned to dislike due to the fact my image of averageness restricted my ability to openly discuss my thoughts. It didn't help either that Shikamaru had been enviously brilliant in this quite honestly effortless way - it was _Shikamaru_ after all, who never even looked at the information we were given until the very last second.

I often got this irritating desire to ask him how he came to such conclusions and what leaps in logic he was making, which was terrible because I knew I could never satisfy such curiosity.

"Naruto?" Kakashi then enquired for the blonde's thoughts, my teammate folding his arms and scowling, deep in thought.

 _If you listen very carefully, you can hear the cogs of his brain struggling to turn._

"Uh...the sea?" Naruto offered hesitantly. "Zabuza used all that water stuff after all."

' _Water stuff'? Oh dear god, I feel sorrier for Iruka by the minute._

Kakashi ignored Naruto's butchery of one of Zabuza's main skills. "Sakura?"

I took a closer look at the maps. My first thought was to agree with Sasuke because there was little point to Zabuza taking a more complex route. Naruto, despite his bordering on upsetting lack of basic knowledge, had brought up a good point too, although it hardly mattered where Zabuza attacked from seeing as there was water everywhere. But the point of this exercise wasn't for us to just agree with one another straight away, it was to bring up all the possible courses of action first and then discard those that didn't make the cut.

"They could go to the bridge with the intent of drawing us out. Tazuna-san at the very least would attempt to stop them if they caused a fuss over there and they might think we'd go with him." The bridge was at the very least the terrain Haku and Zabuza would most want to fight on. Surrounded by water and open so the latter could swing his sword freely. Our perfect terrain would be in the forest and in very tight spaces and the bridge was the exact opposite of that.

The flaw with that plan was however that we probably wouldn't take the bait. Unlike in the canon, the bridge wasn't our priority, hell, not even Tazuna was our priority. And he was probably aware too that, in his injured state, him rushing off to face missing-nin would help no one at all.

"I suppose you all have adequate strategic awareness and reasoning. For genin," Kakashi then added, destroying any chance of his words having been complimentary. Sasuke twitched and Naruto's scowl deepened. "We will prepare for them coming from several directions, however, I think one of the most likely routes they'll take is through the town." He swept his finger from Gatō's counter to ours in a crescent moon shape, passing through the town marked on the map. "It'll allow for the two of them to double check first of all our exact location and whether any of our group members have become separated for whatever reason. They're also unlikely to have their presence reported back to Tazuna here due to the low morale and fear of death of the townspeople."

"Wait, what do you mean 'two of them'?" Naruto was the first one to question Kakashi's words, which I had admittedly not noticed initially since I was expecting two people as well. "Isn't it just Zabuza?"

"Oh, that? Well, that's because back at Gatō's base I saw another person who clearly had more chakra than your average hired mercenary," Kakashi explained as if this was news everyone should've known by now. A question popped into my mind as to whether that was the reason as to why Kakashi's had been distracted at the critical moment of Naruto punching Gatō in the face - it was a fairly good excuse if that were the case. "Also, Zabuza wouldn't have been able to escape from me unless he had someone else helping him. And three's a crowd so it had to be two," he then added with a widening smile.

Sasuke looked like he wanted to roll his eyes at our teacher's antics.

"Two of them?" Tazuna paled. "Isn't that really bad?"

Kakashi gave the barest hint of a shrug. Yes, it was _bad_ , but it wasn't as though we could react to the situation any more differently than if it was just one. All we could do was call for backup and then prepare to fight whoever came at us. The jōnin turned his attention back onto the three of us. "Now, we'll look through the rest of the equipment we all have later, but first, I need to know what your jutsu arsenals are like."

Sasuke's wasn't exactly _vast_ but, as I listened to him ticking off all the jutsus he knew, I realized it was well beyond that which was expected of a genin. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the list of the various variations of the fireball jutsu, Naruto making an increasingly more shocked face as our teammate went on. It made my list seem almost embarrassingly short, although I had made a conscious decision to focus on the basics so it was only natural (and normal). Naruto's equally small pool of jutsus he knew made me feel slightly better about it, until at the very end where he began to mumble. "What was that, Naruto?"

"...xy jutsu and..."

"A little louder?"

Naruto huffed and crossed his arms, an embarrassed blush rising in his cheeks. "Ugh, _fine_ , the sexy jutsu and harem jutsu!" He shouted.

"...What an idiot," Sasuke muttered under his breath in the slight disbelief that Naruto really knew such things.

"What did you call me?!" Kakashi sighed in exasperation whilst Tazuna laughed, Naruto turning his accusing finger pointing onto the jōnin. "Like you're any better with your dumb porn books!"

"How many times do I have to tell you that Icha Icha isn't _dumb_ -"

"Until it's actually true?" Kakashi looked at me with this intense sense of betrayal. Tazuna's laughter got louder.

Once everyone had calmed down (Naruto still slightly blushing in humiliation and Kakashi muttering every now and then us kids not knowing the meaning of fine literature), we systematically counted all the basic tools we had. Altogether, we had about twenty kunai, fifty shurikens, two fūma shuriken, over sixty metres of wire, nine smoke bombs and forty explosive tags, around thirty of which came solely from me.

That had gained more than a few raised eyebrows, Kakashi commenting as to whether I had been planning to take on a missing-nin from the start or always carried them around.

It was a fair amount of stuff all in all, enough for quite the number of traps. "Naruto, Sasuke, you two go scout the immediate surroundings and check for any spots you think might be good to put some traps," Kakashi ordered in that same vein of thought as me. "But _do not_ go far, understood?" He gazed particularly sternly at Naruto who gave a tight, obedient jerk of the head in response. "Once you're done you can do some more tree walking practice."

Sasuke glanced briefly at me with a question as to what I was going to do in his eyes, but then his gaze dropped down to my arm that was still in its sling and he dropped it. "Come on, idiot," he drawled, getting to his feet and starting for the door.

"Hey, stop calling me that!" Naruto scrambled after him.

Once the door had shut behind them, Kakashi turned to face me, seeming as though he was deliberating on something. "Sakura, what's your main elemental nature?"

I took note of the fact he didn't ask if I _knew_ what it was, assuming that I'd found it out already. Which wasn't incorrect. "Water, but earth is a close second," I told him truthfully. I'd done the chakra nature test many times in order to figure out which was my main type and water barely won out. It made sense since they were close together in the 'what beats what' circle of elements.

"It's not unusual for clan kids to have two," Kakashi mused aloud. Tazuna was obviously listening in on our conversation but clearly didn't have a clue what we were talking about. "Well, that's lucky anyway. I'm better at water style jutsus than I am earth since my natural affinity is lightning, though I do know a few of those too. But earth jutsus usually involve slamming your hands into the ground, which might not be exactly beneficial for you right now." He gestured to my arm in its sling.

I blinked in surprise. "You're going to teach me a jutsu?" I asked, incredulously. Kakashi had been _incredibly_ stingy about teaching us anything resembling a jutsu until now, although admittedly the situation had changed quite rapidly since the last time Naruto had dogged him for one.

"You already know how to tree and water walk so why not? Your jutsu arsenal is rather small-" _ouch_ , "-and I have no doubts that you've already run through dozens of chakra control exercises before now so it's not as though you'd benefit from doing those for a few days." He offered a crinkly eyed smile again before dropping it. "It is unlikely you will learn to use what I am going to teach you to any great merit in the time between either backup or Zabuza arriving. _However,_ if you can successfully perform the jutsu to even the smallest extent, it will tip the scales in your favor if we meet him again."

I stared at Kakashi for a few seconds, then nodded, trusting his judgement. Another quick smile. "Good. Now, this is a D-rank jutsu and only has three hand signs so it should be relatively simple to learn if you apply what you already know…"

* * *

I dangled my legs off the balcony, taking deep, full breaths. If I concentrated, I could hear Naruto and Sasuke, the former being less than _quiet_ as the two ran up the nearby trees. They didn't really need to be running anymore, both so close to being fully competent at tree walking I suspected Kakashi would set them on water walking tomorrow. I imagined they'd feel very self-important about it when they returned for dinner later, which would undoubtedly not last long when they learnt I was being 'taught' a jutsu.

'Taught' because Kakashi had just shown me the seals, given a general description of what the jutsu did (not that I needed it because I recognized it almost immediately) and then kicked me outside to practice on my own. It was a very different experience to that of the Academy where every jutsu had been walked through with painstaking detail, so much so that it became almost tedious. Then again, I supposed this was what it was going to be like for the rest of my career as a ninja. You learn the jutsus on your own, get a little advice, then master it or make up one based off it. No one had the time or desire to walk you through it one baby step at a time.

I glared at my arm as another ripple of pain passed through it. I was taking a break because of how much the limb was aching despite trying as hard as I could to only move my arm. It was improving incredibly slowly and I suspected that a medical ninja was going to have to look at it when we got back to Konoha.

(When, not if, because the if's brought up the overwhelming fear and _thirty-percent, thirty-percent, thirty-percent_.)

"Sakura-chan?"

Turning, I saw it was Orihae who had called my name. The youngest of our clients stood in the doorway to the balcony with her dark hair flying around her, skin even paler than usual and eyes red. She'd never looked so much like a Uchiha, I mused absentmindedly as she approached me with quiet steps, which would have been considered loud for a ninja. Carefully, she lowered herself into a sitting position beside me, curling her legs up to her chest. "How's your arm?" She asked with this hesitant, small smile, fingers fidgeting about atop her knees.

"Better than before." _Just not very much._

"That's good." She sounded genuinely pleased even though the air of misery that clung to her. Her eyes turned to the sea and Orihae let out a deep sigh. "It's beautiful, isn't it? I think…" A pause. "I think Takasago would've liked it. A little cold for her tastes though," Orihae added with this choked laughter. She wiped at her eyes with her sleeve, gaze flickering back to me. "Sorry, I- ...sorry. You must think it pathetic that a grown woman is such a mess when you and your teammates are soldiering through it and younger than we are."

I considered my answer carefully, unable to not feel the pang of pity for the woman. "I think all of you are actually handling it rather well." It was true, my honest thought on the matter. Because I hadn't known Takasago long enough to properly mourn her death but all of our clients had. She was their co-worker, their _friend_ of whom was close enough for them to make fun of her 'temperature sensitive' body. And she was dead. Yet they were all powering through and with enough strength of mind to not go around blaming the ninja who hadn't been able to protect her.

They all should have been far, far worse.

Orihae pressed her chin on top of her knees, hugging her legs to her chest. "You're...maybe you're right," she admitted somewhat hoarsely. Then: "Takasago is dead." _Harsh breathing._ "She's dead, but I...I feel so _sad_ but it's hard to even accept it? Perhaps Yoyotose and Matsubito can because they saw her when she- _it_ happened. They've been the worst and I think that's why but- but I just…" She tilted her head down, forehead now against her knees. "I think when we get back to the village it'll become real. When this is all over and we're safe in our own home, I think we'll all really _, truly_ accept it, even those two. And it'll consume us. That, I think, that...that I'm really afraid of."

She was so young.

Nineteen years old and terrified of the moment when the grief would really hit her and her friends, her family.

Orihae lifted her head to gaze at me again, eyes watery and smile twisted. "Ah, I really am sorry, Sakura-chan. I forget sometimes as I'm the youngest out of my group but you are younger. It isn't fair for me to burden you with my fears when you've had it rougher than me." She unclasped her legs and leant over, hands tentatively taking mine and running soft fingers against my rough, scratched skin. "You're a brave girl, Sakura-chan."

The rebuke died in my throat as she started to cry.

* * *

I didn't see Inari again until the next day. He appeared during lunch to just grab some food before heading upstairs again seeing as there was next to no space in the kitchen with our clients up and active again. The boy shot a glare full of contempt at me, mouth opening to presumably spit out some more miserable crap only to shut it again and storm off. "Picking on children is mean, Sakura," Kakashi informed me brightly with a raised eyebrow, the man having managed to drag himself from bed and downstairs for food.

"That's a little hypocritical, Kakashi-sensei."

"How rude, I bestow only the highest affection onto my cute students." Sasuke had actually snorted at that one.

After we'd finished eating, Kakashi sent off the boys to scout out the town with strict instructions to use a henge just in case someone recognized them, no matter how unlikely it was. He pointed to a few areas on a map he specifically wanted them to check out for trap purposes then said that once finished they could start on water walking if they felt confident with their tree walking. Just as Naruto was halfway through the door, Kakashi spoke up again. "Oh, and by the way, you should probably use your shadow clones for your training. They retain all the information you gain so things should proceed quicker if you do that."

The blonde blinked, slowly. "Why didn't you say so earlier then?!"

The jōnin smiled. "It slipped my mind.

Naruto bristled. "'Slipped my mind' _my ass_ , you purposefully did it to watch me struggle, didn't you?!"

"...Ah, you noticed?"

Sasuke dragged Naruto away before he could start yelling. Ukihashi, who had watched the whole scene go down, ventured a smile whilst Yoyotose went as far to remark that Kakashi was up to his usual tricks again.

I returned to the walkway to practice again. At this point, I could form the start of the technique, which, whilst on one hand felt like slow progress, was probably fairly fast. Kakashi hadn't been that surprised by the speed that I was learning it at however. Whether that was because he had high expectations of me or because I was simply progressing like someone my skill level should, I didn't know or care to ask. At the very least, I was absorbed enough by the task that I didn't have long to dwell on other things, especially those dark thoughts that flickered like shadows in the corner of my vision.

I understood now why chakra exhaustion was such a threat for those who were psychologically weak and dealing with heavy issues. Training pushed away your disturbing thoughts and the exhaustion allowed you to sleep without nightmares. Perhaps it explained why so many powerful ninjas weren't the most stable individuals. Those that were stable had better things to do than train twenty-four-seven and people to drag them away from it if they started building an unhealthy training regiment to kill thoughts they didn't want. Those that weren't, well, they either killed themselves or became legends.

It was just before seven when a soaked Naruto and Sasuke returned, hauling an equally wet and bedraggled Inari behind them. "Be more careful next time, idiot." The Uchiha hissed with contempt rich in his voice, the younger boy racing off towards his surprised mother and catching her in a teary hug.

"How was I supposed to know he was there?" Naruto muttered under his breath, although he was quieter than usual, something I noted Kakashi noticed with the slight hardening of his gaze.

"What happened?" A light tone with an edge that demanded the truth.

Sasuke turned his annoyed gaze to the jōnin. "He was running with all his clones across the water and caused a wave that knocked Inari into the water," he explained as he took off his sandals, creating a pool of water on the entrance mat.

"I told you, I didn't know he was there," Naruto repeated, voice a little louder.

"You knew that kid was there earlier though," Sasuke pointed out with a huff, exhaustion and the fact he was soaked to the bone clearly making him even moodier than usual.

"Kid?" Kakashi's grip was tightening ever so slightly on my shoulder, watching how Naruto stiffened.

Sasuke gave a stiff jerk of the head. "They tried to rob us whilst we were in town. And the _idiot_ nearly broke our cover by almost kicking them in the head."

"It was an _accident_." The words were spoken through gritted teeth and I could practically _feel_ the impending doom of something being close to blowing.

The Uchiha snorted again but, unlike before, it was crueler amplified by this annoyance towards Naruto that I understood but at the same time felt horrified to watch because everything was _breaking_ like glass that would cut once it had shattered, drawing _blood_ \- "Did you even _think_ before you acted, you-"

" _Shut up, I already know everything is_ _ **all my fault!**_ _"_

The silence physically _hurt_.

Sasuke, who had been glaring at Naruto, had become wide-eyed and frozen, something akin to regret twisting at his features in a way that looked painful. Tsunami hugged Inari tighter with eyes large and horror dancing in them, her son having reduced his sobs to silent sniffles. Naruto himself had become incredibly still too, shocked by his own words and not knowing what to do or how to save the situation. Kakashi's grip on my shoulder was now so tight I had to bite back a wince, although that was easy, it was swallowing the guilt that was hard.

 _Oh god._

Naruto suddenly regained the ability to move and he bolted out the door before Sasuke could stop him, the Uchiha's outstretched arm hanging in mid air and his teammate's name caught in his throat. The pain in the shoulder my teacher was gripping then vanished and Kakashi turned to look at me. His gaze screamed ' _fix this,_ _ **now**_ _',_ and I couldn't stop myself from cringing because _I did this, this all happened because of me._ Kakashi read my response as (accurate) reluctance and he raised his voice.

"Naruto is your teammate. You need him and he needs you." Then, he moved his hand to my back and pushed me forwards, hard.

I stumbled, good arm waving about in the air to try and regain my balance. My eyes met Sasuke's for the brief second that I paused before seeing that awful face Naruto had made when declaring that _he knew everything was all his fault_ , following the blonde's footsteps out of the house. The cool air outside made me take deep, gulping breaths as my gaze darted around to try and find Naruto, sensing his chakra quicker than I saw him. He'd rushed round the corner of the house and was facing the sea, curled up in on himself.

In my panic, my footsteps were loud and heavy, the blonde snapping his head up to see me approaching and wiping frantically away at his eyes. "You were right, Sakura-chan," his voice cracked as he spoke and swung his gaze forwards, clenched hands shaking a little. "It's all my fault. It's...it's always been my fault." Bitter, _bitter_ choked laughter. "No wonder everyone in the village hated me. I used to never understand why but I _get it_ now, it's because I'm the monster who always _messes everything up_ and you probably hate me too because of that now because I- I'm a _monster_ , I'm-"

His words were coming out as a babbling mess now, sentences unconnected and thoughts spiralling into darker, deeper places that I'd thought I'd been to but never had. Because to say everything was his fault was something he would've batted away angrily in the Academy, fought tooth and nail because it was what everyone said but never explained. However now, now he knew the reason for having been an outcast, saying everything was his fault had a reason he could accept.

 _The Kyuubi. The monster that lived in his stomach with fur dyed in blood and the stench of death on it's breath._

"I don't," I began, stomach churning and chest tight. "Naruto, I don't _hate_ you."

The look of confusion and relief in his eyes was practically heartbreaking. "You...you don't?" He whispered, rubbing his sleeve across his face again.

I didn't. I thought he was annoying, naive, childish and stupid, so, so _stupid_ , but did I _hate_ him?

"No. _No_ , I just don't get along with you because you're a dumb ninja who for starters wears _bright orange._ "

And if there was a sentence that explained my thoughts towards the human being that was Naruto, that was it. The fundamental lack of common sense, the orange clothes. People could argue that it was okay for him to wear orange because it made him seem like the exact opposite of a ninja and therefore unnoticeable, but it _wasn't_ unnoticeable as everyone remembered the orange kid that walked passed them on the street! He was memorable, exactly like a ninja shouldn't be, the centre of attention. That was what he wanted, to be seen from a mile away and for people to watch and wonder 'who is that boy', to make his mark on the world, to be _noticeable,_ and it was _wrong_ , _stupid, dangerous._

It was everything I'd tried not to be. It was why I didn't like him.

 _A bright orange ninja._

But I didn't hate him because he was a 'monster' and, whilst my words hadn't exactly sounded the kindest, Naruto understood that. I was mad at him for what he'd done, how he'd messed up our mission, and I hadn't apologized for screaming that it had been _his fault,_ however, I didn't think he was a monster who ruined everything he touched.

Naruto's eyes welled up with tears again though this time they weren't out of frustrated misery and he scrambled to his feet, shoulders hunched up and fists clenched by his sides. "I'll-I'll do better!" He half shouted, scrunching up his eyes. "I'll _be_ better, I swear! Next time, next time I won't mess up and everyone will get home safe and it'll all be _okay_!" Naruto made this ugly sound that was a mix of a loud sniffle and strangled sob, then turned ninety degrees to face me, opening his eyes. "I swear it, Sakura-chan!"

 _Next time._

The phrase brought up a swirl of emotions that churned my stomach more but I pushed them down, returning a hesitant nod of the head. He stared at me for a couple of seconds before his lips stretched into this grateful, tearful, snotty, bright smile, hands flying to his eyes and rubbing them furiously.

* * *

 **(That moment when everyone is suddenly having emotional moments with you lmao)**

 **I hope Naruto's breakdown wasn't too sudden? He'd been thinking about what Sakura said to him for a couple of days then, ruminating over it, and, after having had a day of things going wrong (almost kicking a child in the face and drowning Inari), finally broke.**

 **Also ugh this chapter wasn't too fun either I'm sorry, I wanted to get to the fun stuff but the word count got away from me fast. The next chapter should be out soon-ish though since I really want to get to what you're all waiting for ;)**

 **AND WHATEVER COULD THE JUTSU SAKURA IS LEARNING BE?**

 **Review Question: Information Vacuum? Danzō? Conspiracies and plots?**

 **I believe something was definitely going on with the Wave mission because really, I can believe a mission got falsely graded, but I don't think the info about Gatō could have been so overlooked without foul play involved. And, as Sakura points out, there are arguments for why it could've been done, but it's difficult to tie down who and** _ **exactly**_ **why. Really interested to hear what you guys think!**


	16. Poison to overcome poison

_**Doku o motte doku o sei suru**_

" _ **To use a poison to overcome a poison."**_

 _ **Sometimes we need shady means to tackle shady problems**_

* * *

I couldn't help but feel bemused amusement as Sasuke's expression when Naruto and I returned to the house. The Uchiha, who had been sat down at the table with Kakashi and Tazuna and had yet to change out of his soaking wet clothes, sprang to his feet the second the door slid open, eyes wide and mouth opening and closing as he searched for words to say to our earlier tearful teammate.

Kakashi, however, was not so lost for words. "Feeling better, Naruto?" He asked, shooting an meaningful look over at me.

The blonde rubbed his finger under his nose sheepishly, glancing at me and then at the floor. "...Yeah. Sorry about earlier, I'm all good now." He looked up, eyes clear and honest. Kakashi paused before giving his usual crinkly eyed smile, Naruto's lips twitching into an awkward but genuine grin in response.

Then, the blonde's eyes flicked to Sasuke, who was still standing in the middle of the room, not knowing what to say. There was a moment of quiet where the two just stared uncomfortably at each other before Naruto folded his arms and glanced away. "I-I guess I'm sorry for making you worry too, _bastard_ ," he muttered, flushing a little in embarrassment.

Sasuke grunted and mimicked his teammate's pose. "Hmph, like I was worried, _idiot_ ," the Uchiha drawled, although I could see his own cheeks turning a shade similar to my hair.

" _Oi_!"

Tsunami cut through their bickering to demand the two changed out of their dripping wet clothes before they caught a cold, Tazuna laughing as they were chased out of the room with towels and the fury of a concerned mother. "I thought those two fought like cats and dogs, but turns out they care a lot about each other, don't they?" He chortled at a shriek emitting from Naruto from upstairs.

"For Konoha-nin, your team is like a second family," Kakashi replied as I took a seat at the table they were sat at too.

"Then we would be an extremely dysfunctional family," I commented aloud.

A curved smile of amusement, gaze fraught with nostalgia and tinges of heavy regret. "Perhaps."

* * *

Inari didn't come down for food at dinner time. "He says he's caught a cold," Tsunami told us as she cleared up the pots she'd used to cook with, realization then flashing through her eyes at how Naruto froze up a little. "Ah, no, you mustn't blame yourself for that, Naruto, Inari should've known better than to stand so close to the water's edge whilst you were training out there," she said hastily, trying desperately to heal the damage she thought she'd caused.

Except no damage had been inflicted and Naruto offered a smile of reassurance at the woman. He healed emotional wounds as fast as he did physical ones, I noted, not without some dull envy.

Tazuna sighed. "All Inari does these days is stare at the sea and hole himself up in his room. What would his father say?"

Tsunami tensed up at the mention of the man, Kakashi noting this and lowering his eyelid a little. "Inari's father, am I right to assume he…?"

"His step-father passed away," Tsunami answered before Tazuna could, biting her lip and hanging her head down so her hair hung like a curtain, hiding her face. "I'm sorry, please excuse me for a moment."

"It looks like a delicate subject," Kakashi remarked not unkindly after the woman had left the room, leaving only my team and Tazuna behind (there wasn't enough space for our clients to eat down here too).

The older man let loose another weary sigh. "Kaiza, my son-in-law, was considered the hero of our town after risking his life to save others during a huge flood. Everyone, Inari included, adored him and his strength of mind and body. Because of that, Gatō saw him as a threat and had him...had him….publicly executed." Tazuna suddenly grabbed a glass of water, downing it fast and wiping his mouth after setting it down.

Naruto's whole expression twisted with confusion and horror. "He killed him because he was a hero?"

"It was to break the will of the people," Kakashi explained, gaze fixed on Tazuna who had become silent, clearly overwhelmed by the memory. "Imagine if the Hokage was killed in full view of the village with nobody being able to stop it from happening. What would you do?"

"Well, I'd want to fight whoever did that to the old-man!" Naruto answered as if it was obvious. Sasuke seemed to share the same sentiment - predictably so, since his reaction to seeing his family murdered by his brother hadn't been simply despair but this burning desire for revenge.

"But what if you were a civilian who didn't have training?"

Naruto blinked, then furrowed his brows. "That's…" Neither of my teammates looked able to comprehend the hypothetical situation properly, although it made sense. They'd always been given the opportunity to get stronger and defeat the 'injustice' they'd been dealt (Sasuke's being the culling of his clan and Naruto's the lack of acknowledgment and silent hatred of the villagers). Yet in the Land of Waves there were no ninja, no way to train and get their own back. Their response of 'get strong enough to fight Gatō' just wasn't a viable solution.

Seeing their silence, Kakashi stared thoughtfully at the two boys before reaching over and ruffling their hair, Sasuke shooting a look of disgust and horror at the jōnin whilst Naruto tried to bat him away with a whine. "Your response isn't wrong but just remember not everyone can fight back like you can, okay? And then that sometimes even those that can can't because it's not fun seeing your hero lose."

Naruto seemed to have some understanding of that and nodded, although Sasuke still looked lost. Kakashi then leaned over to ruffle my hair. "Just so you don't feel left out."

"Don't worry, I didn't."

Tazuna regained some of his smile at that one.

* * *

I took off my sling the next day.

Yoyotose, who I'd barely seen in between training, eating and sleeping, remarked upon it when I passed her in the corridor, saying how I probably shouldn't be taking it off so early. "Then again, there is a long tradition of ninjas not following medical advice of which I hear Hatake proudly carries on," she told me with an amused shine to her eyes she hadn't had since Takasago's death.

My arm ached painfully as I ran through the stretches and exercises I'd neglected somewhat due to the sling, although the pain was definitely manageable. I imagined it'd be especially so with the adrenaline rush that came in the heat of battle and made a mental note to ensure I enforced my shoulder with chakra more than usual. That would at least allow me to counteract the pain slowing my movements down and lower the chances of it being dislocated again.

The jutsu Kakashi had taught me had improved to the tiny extent he'd wanted of me that same day. It was nothing close to mastery at all and could be fairly hit and miss, failing around forty-percent of the time, however, considering I'd only had three days to learn it so far, that was to be expected. In any other situation I was certain it would be useless to me but context was everything and here it had the possibility of saving my own skin - and others, if I used it like Kakashi wanted.

Naruto and Sasuke were sent off to town again with explicit instructions from the jōnin about traps he wanted them to set up. One of the traps was especially complicated and required the two of them to check up on it regularly throughout the day. Despite the incident yesterday where Naruto had reportedly almost kicked a kid in the face, the blonde was more than happy to return. He was _good_ with traps. Considering his Academy prankster days, Naruto had acquired quite the flair for complex schemes that, although usually had only mediocre pay-off since he was attempting to fool trained ninja, were actually well-thought out. It explained those few moments of strange brilliance he'd had in the canon where he'd suddenly throw out adequate plans.

Really, it was no wonder that Iruka had been so frustrated with Naruto. The boy had all this planning potential that he had just wasted on stupid pranks, which could have been honed if he had paid even slightly more attention in class.

Once the two had returned, they resumed their water walking training. It had only been a few days so, like with my jutsu, they lacked any mastery of the technique. That said, they were semi-competent at it. Sasuke could stumble with some stability over the water whilst around nine out of the twenty or so clones of Naruto sprinting across the stretch of sea would make it across safely. Fighting on water would be difficult for the two of them, however, if they ended up on water in the first place then that would be the least of their worries.

 _Speaking of worries…_

Laying my body flat against my right leg as slid into the splits, I glanced inside to see Kakashi performing a somewhat impressive one-finger press up. Chakra wise, he was still clearly exhausted, but I got the sense he could handle Zabuza in a battle of taijutsu. Arguably, that was the most important thing against the man - he didn't use many flashy jutsus and relied mostly on his hidden in the mist and silent killing techniques. All Kakashi needed was some quick reflexes and enough strength to keep the sword away from his neck, though that was easier said than done.

Haku, however, was a problem.

His kekkai genkai meant that he needed more than just good reflexes to be defeated. The sharingan had to be used to track his movements. Arguably, we were in a good position since we happened to have one of the last remaining Uchiha's on our team and the Copy-nin Kakashi. However, Sasuke did not have control over his sharingan yet and couldn't call it forth on command in the canon until he'd almost been killed by Haku.

Therefore, pitting Kakashi against Haku seemed like a better option, yet at the same time not at all since that would leave the experienced Zabuza to the inexperienced genin. Also, Haku had mercy that the swordsman didn't, which meant facing him appealed more to me. A very, very _tiny_ amount more.

The best case scenario was that we didn't face off them at all and backup arrived before Zabuza had recovered entirely, but I sincerely doubted things would run that smoothly. Backup was set to arrive a little less than two days from now. In the canon, that would've been perfect timing and it'd all end happily, but Zabuza hadn't been put in a near-death state by Haku. He could therefore recover faster from his injuries, putting the time-frame for his recovery period at four to five days rather than a whole week. There was also the likelihood that he'd assume/know we'd called for backup and so attack before they arrived.

We were almost certainly going to fight them then.

I pressed my hands into the wood of the balcony and pushed myself into a handstand, shifting my weight onto my good arm.

( _Thirty-percent, thirty-percent, thirty-percent._ )

* * *

"Sakura-chan? Are you awake?"

I bit back a groan and turned onto my side, squinting through the darkness of the room at Naruto who was facing me and cupping his mouth with his hands. " _What_?"

"I...I was thinking about what Kakashi-sensei said. About it being sad when a hero loses." He paused, brows furrowing in thought. In that moment I considered telling him to shut up and go to sleep, however, he then continued. "But, when I then thought about all the heroes I know of, aren't most of them dead?"

I _stared_ at him.

Naruto seemed to take my lack of response as confusion so he went on, babbling a little. "I mean, there's the Fourth Hokage that everyone considers a hero and he died to save the whole village, and then there's that Kaiza guy that Gatō killed just 'cuz everyone looked up to him for saving them that one time, and-" his voice got a little quieter, "-and I think Takasago is a hero too since she saved her friend's life, but Zabuza killed her, so I just…isn't that weird? Like, Iruka-sensei is my hero too, and he's still alive although he also almost…Sakura-chan, isn't it _weird_?"

I struggled to find the right words to say. Before Naruto's questions were easy to answer and ignore. Usually they were stupid things either born from ridiculous ideas or lack of attention in class, but this was...neither of those.

He'd been serious about 'being better', I realized. He hadn't just said it for the sake of saying something, he'd said it with the intention of really bettering himself and what that entailed. So he'd thought about what Kakashi had said. Really thought about it, internalised it, then came to this conclusion that he didn't understand and so was asking questions about it.

I...didn't know how to feel about this.

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto repeated, a little more softly and with this anxious note that wondered whether it had been a stupid question or if I was upset by it.

"...They're heroes because they risked their lives for others," I began somewhat clumsily because my knee jerk reaction to Naruto's question as to whether it was weird that they were almost all dead was _no, it isn't._ It was why I didn't want to be the hero, saving everybody and changing the canon so people ended up happier. I wanted to _live_.

(Images flashed in my mind of blood and blades and _thirty-percent, thirty-percent, thirty-percent_.)

"If they're risking their lives, then they're more likely to die." The words came out fast and I took a sharp, somewhat panicked, intake of breath, willing myself not to think of the things that my ingrained fear preyed on.

Naruto didn't seem to notice. "I...I wanted to be a hero. That's why I ran in to save Tazuna instead of talking it over with everyone else but it...it didn't end up well." Another pause. "I never even really thought about what it meant to be a hero, just that I wanted to be one."

"Most people don't." Kakashi's sudden voice made my heart almost fly out of my mouth and I _swore_ in shock. "Language, Sakura."

 _Oh, fuck off, I almost had a heart attack!_

Kakashi ignored the glare I shot at him through the darkness. "Philosophical debates on the mortality of heroes are fun and all, just not in the middle of the night when your favourite _sensei_ is trying to sleep, okay? And don't think I don't notice you eavesdropping too, Sasuke."

Sasuke made some muffled noise at having been caught, Naruto shooting up and squawking in horror. "You- you _bastard_ , why were you listening in?!"

"Maybe because you were being too loud for me to sleep, _idiot_."

" _I was not!_ "

"Now, when I said no philosophical debates, I didn't mean you should have an argument with less advanced reasoning instead…"

As I pulled my duvet over my head to try and block out the arguing, I realized I wasn't sure whether I preferred Naruto's quiet, intense questions or his loud, ridiculous bickering with Sasuke.

* * *

"Catch!"

The small boy gasped as the somewhat deflated ball flew past him, bare feet twisting round and arms stretching for it despite the fact it had flown well out of reach. "Ah-!" He stumbled after the ball as it bounced down the slightly misty street.

A few people watched the child jog past them: a beggar with a cardboard sign, a shopkeeper with hardly any wares to sell and boasted prices so high they were painful to look at, and a couple of children that had stopped playing in the streets weeks ago and taken to standing around miserably like the adults of the town did. The boy took no notice of them, eyes focused on the ball and grubby hands outstretched-

 _Thud._

His forehead collided with something firm and hard and he practically bounced off it, smacking into the ground before he even had a chance to realize what had happened. Hands stinging from breaking his fall, the child sniffled a little, eyes tearing up. Then, looking upwards, the tears threatening to slip down his grubby cheeks stopped, fear causing the boy to freeze up completely.

A terrifying glare was directed down at him, fierce eyes narrowed and lips forming a visible snarl even underneath the bandages. The stranger was like a monster, a demon, reminiscent of those his mother had told him about when he was younger that ate the souls of naughty children than didn't listen to their parents. A sob stuck in his throat that fear didn't allow him to force out.

Suddenly, the view of the man was obstructed by that of the familiar, deflated ball being held up by a hand with painted nails. The child's gaze followed the hand, then the curve of the arm, all the way up to the smiling face of what looked to be a beautiful woman. "This is yours, right?"

He nodded, taking the ball with a sense of wonder and gratitude and cradling it with both hands. "T-thank you."

The 'beautiful woman' deepened their smile as the child scrambled to his feet and scampered away with a final bow of thanks, then turning their gaze to the 'monster' beside them. "Hmph, don't be so soft," came the gruff scold through the bandages.

Opening their smiling mouth, a different voice cut off whatever they were going to say. "I appreciate the help with getting food for lunch, but are you sure this is alright?"

A trio of women was walking down the other side of the street. The woman that had spoken was fairly unnoticeable however her two companions were decidedly _not_ , one with striking blue hair, the other blonde and both wielding beauty that stood out in the dilapidated town.

"Don't worry, we'll be back before anyone even notices we're gone!"' The blue haired woman told the first with a small smile that wavered and wobbled. "Anyway, we needed some time out of the house, right, Matsu?"

The blonde woman gave a distracted nod of the head, fingers clutching onto a small fan and eyes focused on the ground. A loud shout made her snap her head upwards to see a huge blade swinging at her, a few of the townsfolk running but most watching on in horror as the sword descended towards her.

Horrified realization twisted her features and she stumbled backward, the blue haired woman grabbing her by the shoulder in this desperate attempt to pull them both out of the way. Yet she wasn't fast enough, blade slicing right through the two bodies before the plainer woman even had a chance to scream.

 _Poof._

Smoke suddenly exploded around the huge blade, it's wielder narrowing his eyes in a sense of confusion and apprehension. His eyes then widened when he saw that his sword now hung in empty space, the two women nowhere to be found.

There was then a flash of metal through the smoke, followed by a girlish yelp that was cut off by another 'poofing' sound, and the man's now masked companion landed lightly beside him. As the smoke cleared, it was revealed that the third, the more average woman, had vanished too, leaving behind a single senbon needle that shone on the dirty ground.

The masked individual turned, removing their mask from their face enough to reveal an expression marred with careful wariness and dry amusement. "It appears we've been had, Zabuza-san."

He twitched. "Shut up, Haku."

* * *

" _Kakashi-sensei!"_

Naruto slammed the front door open, making Tsunami, who had been carrying dirty laundry downstairs, almost throw the basket all over herself. I shot a semi-alarmed look over at the woman as my teammate rushed inside, not even bothering to kick off his sandals. He looked as though he'd either ran a marathon or had the shock of his life, face flushed and breathing hard. Sasuke followed in behind him, clearly not having a clue as to what was going on judging by his confused expression.

"Kakashi-sensei, I- the clones, they-!"

Kakashi, who had been absorbed in his book a few moments ago, stood up fast, visible eye narrowed and slipping into the role of jōnin squad commander. "Did you see them?"

Naruto nodded furiously. "Yeah, the guy that first attacked was definitely Zabuza! And he was with another person that wore this freaky mask and used some kind of needle or something to pop one of my clones!"

The jōnin's eye flashed in recognition of a sort as the realization to what was going on slipped over Sasuke and me at the same time.

 _They triggered the warning trap._

It was the trap that had needed careful maintenance due to the fact it relied so heavily on the use of Naruto's shadow clones and aptitude for henges. The latter was arguably the only good thing to have come out of Naruto's numerous 'sexy jutsus', which were just transformations with stupid names. Practice had made him good at maintaining transformations, better than both Sasuke and I, this being what had allowed Kakashi to even think up such an idea in the first place.

A crude and yet ingenious warning system was what it was, the shadow clones being able to relay the information they'd learnt back to the original once they'd been 'killed'.

Except it was hard to think about the genius of it when it clicked in my mind that _Zabuza and Haku were coming._

 _Shit._

"Sasuke, Sakura, get the clients and Tazuna." Kakashi's order broke through the awful thought, tone brusque and gaze that had flicked to the two of us hard. There was no room for negotiation, not that I would've anyway as training at the Academy kicked in and my body moved automatically to fit with my superior's command. Even when my mind had caught up to my movements - halfway up the stairs and squeezing past the confused and scared Tsunami to whom Kakashi was giving instructions in a kinder voice - I found no reason to argue.

We couldn't waste any time. Distance for a ninja meant nothing when you were of Zabuza's caliber.

 _Focus. Don't panic. Follow the plan._

Sasuke ran to Tazuna's room whilst I slammed open the door to where our clients were staying, gaining myself a few surprised yelps in response. "Grab only your necessities, we need to get ready to move, _now_!" I ordered in what I hoped was a stable voice, thoughts running through my head far from calm.

There was a moment's pause before any of them started packing away, Yoyotose having to grab her shaking girlfriend by the shoulder and reassure her that she was there and it was all going to be okay in order to get her moving. Tsunami rushed past me as I stood in the doorway to the room with Inari in her arms. His eyes were wide with confusion and fear, and I couldn't help but think of the version of the boy in the canon who had gathered up an army of people to fight Gatō on the bridge.

 _He's only a kid who had to watch his step dad be executed. It shouldn't be his responsibility to fight back against the Land of Wave's oppressors._

 _Although,_ I then thought, throat tight and loud heartbeat marking the painful passage of time, _it isn't mine either._

I squeezed my eyes shut for a split second, trying to pretend this wasn't happening, that Zabuza and Haku weren't rushing here with weapons drawn and my name on their kill list. But they were and I couldn't, so I opened my eyes again and breathed out slowly, shakily.

 _(Thirty-percent.)_

* * *

The house was quiet.

 _Too quiet._

Zabuza held up his hand, Haku halting beside him with expression hidden by his mask. They knew they were coming, Zabuza had heard before about how shadow clones worked and their uncanny ability to relay information back to the original once popped.

 _Had they left?_

No, he could tell at least one person was still inside.

 _So, a trap?_

He resisted the urge to laugh aloud, grin forming underneath his bandages that Zabuza knew Haku had taken notice of. _So you think setting up some stupid traps is enough to deter me, huh, Hatake?_ Removing his sword from his back, he pivoted on one foot, swinging it with such force that the wooden wall that lay in it's way splintered and broke apart.

A boy dressed entirely in orange that had been hiding behind a cupboard, shouted in surprise as wood flew around him, then yelled something more comprehensible upon recognizing the man wielding the enormous sword, grabbing a few shuriken and hurling them at him. Haku leaped in the way before Zabuza could even begin his blocking swing, deflecting the metal weapons with the deadly accuracy of his senbon.

"Zabuza-san, I'll-" Haku began, then cut off with wide eyes as hands suddenly grabbed him by the ankles, snapping his head round to see another orange boy that had been not even a second ago a piece of splintered wood.

Naruto grinned up at the masked individual just as a crowd of identical clones poofed into existence, changing from their forms as different objects around the room and charging at the two. " _Get them_!"

Zabuza snarled. " _Ridiculous,_ " he spat, Haku flicking out more senbons in order to 'kill' the swarm before they even reached them only to see one Naruto out of the corner of their eye pulling on a wire.

Realization hit him like a sledgehammer. " _Zabuza-san_!"

The ten explosive tags plastered to the underside of the house exploded.

* * *

"You mean you did _what?!_ " Tazuna gaped at Kakashi as we ran, eyes filled with half disbelief, half righteous fury.

The jōnin regarded him calmly. "Ah, I'm sorry, I should have probably asked if you had insurance first."

"That is not the problem here! You- _you just blew up my house!"_

I ducked under a low hanging branch, flicking my gaze over my shoulder with this sickening expectation to see Zabuza there with his sword drawn and subsequent momentary relief when he wasn't. Because him not being there only served to draw the tension out further, taut like a wire that was shrieking at how hard it was being pulled.

Glancing over at Naruto, I wanted nothing more than the frowning blonde to tell me that Zabuza and Haku were dead, that they'd been successfully caught in the explosion and were bleeding out with no hope of recovery. A small part of me recalled the two being sympathetic characters that I'd become teary eyed for when they died, but it was easy to forgive and forget the horrible things fictional characters had done and less so the acts of someone real. Haku and Zabuza's canon and tragic death felt here, in the misty forest I was running through, like a distant, fairy-tale happy ending.

I knew fully well however that Haku and Zabuza had not died in the trap we'd set for them.

Zabuza had been in the Mist's equivalent of the ANBU and Haku his student that I had some faint recollection of the man declaring surpassed him. In a way it was miraculous they'd even entered the house in the first place - but, at the same time not at all.

Because people didn't just go around _blowing up people's houses._ It was noisy, flashy, messy, dangerous and, above all, so very un-Konoha like (we treasured family there and were meant to understand the value of _home_ ) that Zabuza had no reason at all to assume we'd do it. Besides, normal ninja didn't carry around more than five explosive tags. Kakashi's possession of eight was considered overkill, which said more than enough of my stash of around thirty.

No, Zabuza had considered a trap of far less destructive consequences, one on the same level as the one we'd sprung on him earlier. He'd made the choice that he could handle whatever we'd throw at him, even gone as far as entering through his handmade entrance, and that would've been plenty enough caution if we were normal ninja.

(Except we weren't normal, we had Kakashi Hatake who'd known exactly how to throw Zabuza off and suggested blowing the house up with a smile whilst being deathly serious about the entire thing.)

Naruto's expression changed as presumably another of his many shadow clones popped out of existence. His eyes widened as the information rush hit him then he furrowed his brows into a complicated scowl. "They managed to get out," he informed us, Kakashi not seeming surprised by the news whilst I tried to push down the ugly disappointment I'd been expecting.

Tazuna looked appalled. "You mean you destroyed my home for _nothing?!_ "

"No, not nothing." Kakashi turned suddenly and we burst out of the forest. A large part of me wished we could stay in the woods as that was where us Konoha-nin were in our prime. Even Naruto, who had crashed into a tree more than once when moving fast, maneuvered well there. It was where we'd been bred to fight. One didn't engage Konoha-nin in the trees like how one wouldn't battle a Suna-nin on sand or a Kiri-nin on water.

The only exception to the obvious rule was Kusa-nin because grass was fucking everywhere.

But, whilst the forest was good for my team, it certainly wasn't for the civilians we were hauling along behind us, even without Tsunami and Inari to worry about.

(The two had gone off earlier to stay at a nearby friend's house. It was Tazuna who was wanted by Gatō after all, not his daughter and grandson, so there was no fear going around the townsfolk about being killed if they put them up for a while and no worry from us that they'd be targeted by Zabuza. The missing-nin wasn't the type to take hostages anyway.)

The town therefore that we were sprinting towards was the next best choice, even with the swirling mist I could already see flooding the streets as we approached.

"Zabuza has fallen for two of our traps so far," Kakashi continued his explanation from before, calmly forming the sign for 'stop' with a flick of the wrist. Tazuna almost fell when we all suddenly halted, Naruto barely catching the man before he smacked into the ground. "Therefore, he'll be angry, and that anger will cloud his judgement in a fight, giving us the upper hand." The jōnin spoke all the whilst poking his head round the corner of a wall, giving the sign for 'all clear' and a smile as he gestured for us to go on in front of him. "Now then, team, ladies, Tazuna. Shall we get to work?"

Naruto and Sasuke gave brisk nods, our clients and Tazuna more hesitantly so, although it wouldn't matter if they'd had any objections anyway. It was do or die after all and dying wasn't an option.

Pulling my hood further over my head, I nodded too.

 _Thirty-percent._

* * *

 **Guess who is dying from illness this week and has headaches and a fever that makes everything feel awful to do? And guess who also had their laptop die on them? All at the start of the school holiday?**

 **:D**

 **(When will the suffering end)**

 **(That's also why if any of you didn't get a reviewer reply - I'm a little out of it at the moment haha…)**

 **Kakashi's decision to blow up the house does come somewhat from the fact that the parameters of the mission they've been given differ from that of the canon. Tazuna is not their client, he's just a rebel bridge builder that they've picked up along the way and secondary to their actual clients (although Kakashi would fight tooth and nail to protect him as he doesn't have a black heart and doesn't want to abandon anyone he sees as a good person/innocent civvie).**

 **And less Sakura freaking out somewhat? It's a different scenario where they aren't just running blindly from the enemy and have a plan to cling to amongst other little things that have helped Sakura to not completely lose her shit.**

 **Also, Naruto's discussion of heroes and a lot of them being dead of course doesn't mean he's now going to suddenly condemn the idea of being a hero. He's thinking about things still, trying to understand how to better himself and questioning stuff he doesn't get. Kakashi's line of it being sad when a hero loses really struck a chord with him too so that in particular has been on his mind. It's not like he's doing a complete 180 in character, that I really want to get across**

 **Reviewer Question:**

 **If you had to fight against either Haku or Zabuza, who would you choose?**

 **It's a difficult choice since Zabuza did basically say/heavily imply Haku was stronger than him but probably Haku for the same reason as Sakura favoring fighting him because he is more likely to show mercy and seems easier to persuade to not kill you. I did think maybe Zabuza was easier to manipulate for a second since Naruto did make him do a 180 BUT Haku had just died and the circumstances had changed so team seven was no longer his enemy amongst other things. So yeah, Haku is my bet.**


	17. Disappearing mist

_**Unsan mushō**_

 _ **"Scattered clouds, disappearing mist."**_

 _ **To disappear without a trace**_

* * *

"It's much emptier than before," Naruto remarked as we kept on moving through the streets of the town, flushing a little when Kakashi made a gesture for him to keep his voice down before continuing in a quieter tone. "I mean, earlier, there were loads of people here. Less than Konoha though. But it was weird, 'cuz they weren't really doing much other than just standing around…"

He was somewhere between nervous and excited, I realized, babbling on to fill the tension in the air that was becoming more and more unbearable as time went on. Sasuke was feeling it too, obviously so with tensed muscles and eyes darting periodically around his surroundings in a cautious manner that would've earned him praise back in the Academy. Naturally, I also felt it, although paranoia had made the sensation familiar so I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists, clinging to thoughts of the plan and my desire to _live._

Kakashi, on the other hand, was the pinnacle of calmness, seeming as though he was on a simple stroll to the shops rather than on the verge of battle.

We rounded another corner. The town was incredibly empty like Naruto had commented on it being and I put it down to Zabuza and Haku's little stunt with the clones of Tsunami and our clients earlier. To the townsfolk who didn't know what was going on, it was fairly likely they'd assumed Gatō had sent some of his thugs on a fear-mongering spree, choosing random people to kill as a display of his overwhelming power over them all.

Having civilians not walking around was a double edged sword though as, whilst it meant they were less likely to be accidentally killed, it would have been useful to have them as some kind of cover to move behind.

"Almost finished, team." Kakashi's voice was light and both my teammates and Tazuna, still moving within our formation alongside the women, seemed relatively soothed by it.

So, of course, they arrived right then.

"How _nice_ to see you again." There was no subtlety in Zabuza's approach this time. Him and Haku practically dropped themselves right in front of us in a way that would probably seem clumsy and stupid if it weren't for the fact it was _them_ doing it. And, because it was them, the sudden rush of terror and intimidation felt less pathetic, more perfectly warranted.

I didn't entertain any thoughts of running this time, however. Instead, I drew my kunai, grip tightening and heartbeat quickening.

The mental map of the town I'd engrained into my head flew to the forefront of my mind as Kakashi stepped in front of us all. Trying to place myself on the map, swear words blasted through my head at the realization we were closer to the bridge than I would've ever hoped to have the imminent confrontation be. Everything inside me protested at being anywhere near the damned thing. It was a death trap and I had no doubt that Zabuza and Haku knew that.

 _They purposefully ambushed us here. Oh,_ _ **fuck**_ _._

Kakashi flicked his fingers in the sign for the manji formation behind his back and Tazuna barely hid his gulp of nerves as Sasuke, Naruto and I moved obediently into position, training overriding any fear we had. "I can't say I share the same sentiment, Zabuza. And brought a friend have we?"

It was hard to tell if Kakashi was making 'small talk' with the enemy in an effort to infuriate Zabuza further or create a sense of calm for my teammates and I. Not that it helped me in the slightest.

What did help me was the observation of Zabuza and Haku's clothing. They were both slightly ripped and singed, and the latter had small spots of blood on their left sleeve that were barely visible through the mist clinging to the town.

 _Injured. Very slightly, but injured all the same._

Zabuza sneered at Kakashi. "You won't be so lucky this time, _Copy-nin._ Neither will your _brats_." I hoped against hope that it was paranoia making me think his glare focused particularly on me. But I had been the only one out of my team to really deal any damage to the man in my last encounter, so of course he'd labelled me as the 'biggest threat' aside from Kakashi.

 _Fuckfuckfuck._

Memories of that same fight were beginning to return with larger force now he was here and it was more of a struggle to battle down that familiar fear my teacher had warned me against.

 _ **Thirty-percent.**_

"Oh, I don't know. I don't think any of us will need luck taking you two down." Kakashi smiled at the duo, earning himself a snort in response. Zabuza raised a hand and muttered something I couldn't catch to Haku, the boy nodding and slipping into an offensive stance. Kakashi flicked out his own kunai, second hand hesitating over his headband as the mist began to thicken. Then, all sight beyond a metre radius around me vanished.

Which happened to be the unfortunate signal for me to carry out my part of the plan.

Curses got stuck behind the lump in my throat and I ran through the first set of handsigns before my mind could catch up to what I was doing and remind me how, whilst seeming logical when Kakashi had first explained it to me, this was actually an awful, terribly dangerous idea.

 _Ram-Snake-Tiger_

The puff of smoke could hardly be made out amongst the heavy mist, my clone appearing to take my place in the formation whilst I slunk to the middle of it, the bodies of our clients and Tazuna concealing me from view.

I raised my hands again.

 _Ox-Snake-Ram_

The mist that was already naturally there began to cling to me and I concentrated on covering my body bit by bit. Slowly, carefully, quietly, I shrouded myself in this tiny cloud of mist I'd created and then, when I stepped out of the formation, became practically invisible in the enormous cloud Zabuza had made.

That was where the context of the jutsu Kakashi had taught me came in.

It could be described as none other than the most _ballsy_ idea ever conceived, to see that our opponent was a master of the hidden in the mist technique and then teach a genin to use it against him. However, it's sheer boldness was what made it so quintessentially _Kakashi,_ who'd been nothing but ballsy in the whole creation of this plan of ours, and, as a direct result, stupidly _brilliant_.

Zabuza, for all his awareness now of the tricksy nature of our jōnin-sensei, could not see this coming, both figuratively and literally. Figuratively because god, blowing up a house was one thing, but no one in their right mind would and should do what I was doing! (Which was why it was so perfect, because ninja were supposed to fool their enemies and do the unexpected - an art Kakashi had finely honed over his many years of service). And literally because the natural mist mixed with his own made me, in my own little cloud, one small step away from being invisible.

The missing-nin couldn't see through his mist.

It was a point I remembered being made clear in the canon and continued to ring true here. He relied on his sense of smell and hearing to find us, although I imagined more so the latter seeing as his bandages covered his nose and the conflicting lingering scents of the townspeople that had inhabited this street not too long ago. One of the positive aspects of the hidden in the mist jutsu was that it muffled somewhat the sound of movement of the user and covered up to an extent their scent.

The latter was why Kakashi, with a sense of smell rivalling those of the Inuzuka clan, had had to get so much of his blood over Zabuza for even his own dog summons to find him.

So, within the mist both he and I had created, Zabuza could not see, smell or hear me, or at least less than he could the decoy that was my clone.

 _Context was everything._

The technique was useless on its own, barely covering me. But inside his mist, it was potentially life saving.

I crouched down as far as I could without losing balance as I moved, unravelling the length of near-invisible thin wire hidden in the bandages wrapped around Sasuke's lower leg. Carefully, I edged backwards, all too wary of the fact that whilst Zabuza did not know I was moving, he'd become more than aware of it if he bumped into me.

"Why are you working for Gatō, Zabuza? Surely the 'Demon of the Bloody Mist' is above slaving away for someone like him. Or perhaps you've lost your edge?" Kakashi's insult was calculated, drawing attention to him as I moved. Zabuza's snarling laughter came from all around and I forced the new bubble of fear down, focusing instead on the mist and what little chakra I could sense.

 _Careful, careful._

It was thinning by a barely noticeable amount in the direction I was moving and I snatched up a shuriken, making sure the wire was flat against the ground before shoving the bladed weapon through it so it stuck there and yanking twice on it. Then, I moved in the direction I really didn't want to.

Forwards _._

"I feel no need to explain myself to someone like you," Zabuza's voice rasped from behind, in front, beside my ear, above my head. My heart felt painful in my tightening chest and breaths far too shallow as I crept with my body pressed flushed against one wall of the street. He was taking his time with us, knowing that with every passing second the terror would get that bit more unbearable and we, the inexperienced genin, were more likely to mess up and give him the chance to go in for the clean kill.

"For funds perhaps?" The jōnin continued, voice incredibly loud. "It's no secret your first coup attempt went _abysmally_."

"Heh! What a loser, right, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto's shaky shout carried through the air, Sasuke making some sort of noise of agreement.

Zabuza snarled again, hot anger bubbling through his voice as I found my target, sliding my feet silently across the ground to manoeuvre myself behind them. I flexed my fingers around the hilt of my kunai, watching, waiting. Suddenly, I felt as though I could be in the water again beneath Zabuza and gazing upwards, looking for that perfect moment to sink the blade into his arm. Except Kakashi, whilst kept somewhat in place between Haku and the rest of my team, was free to assist this time and I could breathe, no matter how large the lump in my throat was.

 _I can do this. I_ _ **will**_ _do this._

"But know this, Zabuza," Kakashi went on, voice still deceptively light. "This time you will not escape your **failure** alive."

I'd lunged forwards before he'd even finished the sentence.

My kunai tore through the mist, grip on the hilt of the blade tight and signal word blaring through my mind. The sharp tip met skin and twisted inside, eliciting an equally sharp, surprised cry of pain that I barely heard, too busy forcing the weapon through Haku's exposed ankle - _speed is his weapon, the hands don't matter, he can do one-handed seals, destroy his speed now!_

The pale leg now splattered with blood jerked to the side, ripping the kunai out of the wound it was forming. A curse rose up in me at the realization the injury wasn't nearly as deep as I'd hoped and that my control in this skirmish was quickly flying away from me. Metal that wasn't my kunai glinted as a mask, simple yet horrifying in it's simplicity, twisted to stare down at me.

I let go of the kunai so it continued on its path towards his other leg, Haku kicking off the ground to jump over the blade as my hands slammed together. A shuriken thudded in the place within the thick mist I'd just been and I flicked out another kunai whilst avoiding tripping over the now cut wire that lay in the dirt. Snapping my gaze upwards, I was greeted with the sight of Zabuza's back and his sword hovering in the air where I knew Naruto's head had been last.

He twisted just in time to block my thrown weapon, eyes narrowed into a glare that was growing with fury as he realized what we'd done. Kakashi flew through the empty space which the rest of my team and clients should've been in, sharingan whirling and kunai slashing through the swordsman's neck. A liquid too clear to be blood spurted out and the water clone collapsed.

"You're not the only one with _tricks_ , Hatake!" Zabuza roared from behind the jōnin skidding to a halt in front of me, cleaver swinging right through his middle.

Water exploded in my face and sparks flew, the missing-nin barely able to parry the blow that came from his left and leaping back only a few paces so I could just about make his form out in the mist. Kakashi twisted, positioning himself in front of me. "True, but I pull them off better, _Zabuza_ ," he taunted, tone decidedly smug and dangerously sharp like the kunai he was spinning around his finger.

"The rest of them got away. Go after them, Haku," Zabuza's order was filled with seething rage at having had almost the exact same stunt pulled on him.

My teammates and those they were protecting had moved at the precise moment Kakashi had remarked on the failure of Zabuza's coup in one, short dash in the direction signalled by the wire I'd pinned down. To complete the illusion, the transformed clones left behind had then started speaking and making noises of their own, which, when coupled with the anger instigated by Kakashi in the first place, caused Zabuza to not see the signs that should've been obvious.

"Yes, Zabuza-san." Haku's silhouette in the mist suddenly vanished.

"Sakura, go after them too," Kakashi commanded, lips under his mask quirking into a smirk but gaze directed towards Zabuza cold. "I'm _more_ than enough to deal with him."

Zabuza sneered something insulting back although I didn't listen to it, turning on my heel instead and throwing myself into a sprint. The sound of metal clashing against metal got fainter as the mist thinned and, after five seconds or so, I emerged out of the thick cloud.

I tried searching for Naruto and Sasuke's chakra whilst running, cursing not for the first time my novice sensory abilities when I realized we were too far away. At the very least, I knew where they were _supposed_ to be, twisting around another corner to find myself suddenly on the shoreline and dodging the salty spray of the sea. Through the natural mist I could see the dark shadow of the bridge near and something inside me squirmed at the sight.

The ugly feeling only grew as I got closer and my movements were slowed by the crates that were massing in numbers the nearer I was to the structure. _'Coincidence'_ and ' _ambush'_ both swirled through my mind as I sidestepped another wooden box, then ' _fuck'_ because there was a trail of bloody dots and Tazuna poorly hidden behind said-crate.

Skidding to a halt, I realized he was alone, although, judging by the senbon needles sticking out of his arm and a few others deposited on the ground, it wasn't surprising. "That masked kid caught up to us," Tazuna explained somewhat breathlessly before I could ask, allowing me to heave him to his feet. "Your teammates dropped me here and tried to fight them off but they got pushed onto the bridge."

I got the distinct urge to cry.

 _Of fucking course they did._

To be fair, it wasn't really Sasuke and Naruto's fault they'd ended up on the bridge, the one place they'd explicitly been told not to go to. Haku and Zabuza had ambushed us most likely with the bridge in mind as their best possible fighting ground. So, naturally, Haku had forced my teammates there when the opportunity had presented itself.

 _Damn it, damn it, damn i-_

" _I'll kill you!"_

My hands grabbed fistfuls of Tazuna's shirt and I threw us both to the side as the end of a chain I'd seen out of the corner of my eye slammed into the place we'd just been stood in. Twisting round fast, I thought for a second I'd seen a ghost with that familiar gauntlet then realized it was on the wrong arm and that this was the second of the Demon Brothers, the one Kakashi had faced but hadn't killed.

And he was glaring and screaming at me as though I was Satan incarnate.

"You bitch, I'm going to rip you _apart!_ " He charged towards me, claws brandished and sharpened to a razor's edge. Tazuna made this choking, terrified noise of recognition as I launched a handful of shuriken through the air. A primal, guttural laugh ripped itself from my attacker's throat as he batted them away with his gauntlet, which was quickly cut off when he saw that I'd ran behind the projectiles and was right in front of him.

 _He's injured still, no need to be afraid, you've got the advantage, he's nothing compared to Zabuza and Haku._

Snarling, he swung his claws at me and Tazuna yelled as I ducked, hands flying upwards to grab onto his gauntlet. My chakra slid over my palms and I swung myself up, right leg flying in a wide arc towards his mask. Another portion of my chakra flew down to my heel and formed a bludgeoning shape like that I'd used to break Kakashi's arm, which slammed mercilessly towards the man's face.

The mask splintered and dented inwards, blood spewing from any and all crevices as the force of the attack sent him falling backwards. Something that was in between a snarl and a shriek left the bloody mess of his rebreather and his other hand latched onto my ankle, grip so hard and desperate it bruised my skin. He swung my leg towards the ground and I released my grip on his gauntlet to rapidly form hand signs.

Smoke filled the air and the Demon Brother let out another inhuman scream as one of the many crates suddenly crashed down on top of him, wood cracking to reveal heavy coils of wire inside. The momentum from the throw sent me careering forwards from the point I'd substituted myself to, back skidding painfully across the ground and smacking into a pile of boxes. Tazuna started towards me but I scrambled to my feet fast, hand diving into my holster to pull out a kunai.

Snapping my gaze back to my attacker, I saw he was writhing on the ground, body pinned down by the crate. "I'll kill you!" He shrieked again, words muffled by his broken mask. "I'll make you feel the same pain and fear _he_ did when you killed him, I'll make you _scream, I'll make you wish you'd been the one who died back ther-"_

My aim was decidedly not as good as Sasuke's, who had carried on the Uchiha legacy of having such perfect throwing skills, but, with a target that had been reduced to worming around on the ground, pinned in place, I didn't need that prowess of his.

The blade sunk into the back of his head and he let out this wheezing sound much like a deflating balloon before the writhing ceased entirely. An instantaneous death, one that might've been avoided if he hadn't been so intent on screaming details of what he planned to do to me.

I breathed out a long, shaky breath, chest heaving and letting my outstretched arm that had thrown the kunai drop back to my side. Part of me kept expecting to see the man rise up again and keep on spitting foul curses at me, the same expectation I'd felt when I'd used that explosive tag on his brother, but I knew he was dead.

Relief untwisted my insides and I turned to face Tazuna, who was staring at me in the sort of mild horror. "Is he…?"

I nodded.

"Oh." Tazuna cast another look at the Demon Brother, face contorted into a complicated frown. Then he shook his head because this wasn't the first time he'd seen death and he wasn't really about to feel sorry for a man working for Gatō.

Yelling and shouting that I immediately recognized as originating from my teammates made me push all thoughts of the man I'd just killed way out of my mind. There was a brief moment where I considered following the plan instead of going onto the death trap that was the bridge. To race back into the forest where several traps had been set of wires unnoticeable to the naked eye and deadly in their sharpness.

But the plan relied on multiple people following it and I was alone.

So, against my knee-jerk reaction which was to run away (it always was), I grabbed Tazuna by the arm and yanked him behind me, racing onto the bridge. _There's safety in numbers,_ I tried to tell myself, although it was a terrible lie.

It didn't take long until I felt my teammates' chakra and not much more time after that to see them. They were stood within a dome of rectangular pieces of ice that from my point of view showed images of Haku's back. Tazuna's eyes widened at the sight and a question left his lips as to what the hell he was looking at, but I ignored him, mind racing.

Sasuke and Naruto, from my limited sight of them, weren't doing too badly. They'd been skewered by a few senbons, however, they were still steady on their feet and at the very least well enough to shout insults at their attacker. There were also streams of blood across the concrete between the ice mirrors that I realized had come from Haku's wound, red liquid dripping down his leg.

 _He's not moving at full speed._

Even so, I decided within a matter of seconds that I couldn't leave them inside Haku's domain. I needed them out here, with me, and then we could try salvaging what we could of the original plan where our chances of survival were at their highest.

 _Think, think, think!_

Naruto had destroyed the jutsu in the canon using the Kyuubi's chakra, although he'd only managed that because Sasuke had been put in a near death state. Would tags work? Possibly, but I had some memory of the mirrors being resistant to fire techniques and I didn't want to waste tags on an endeavour that might not even work. _What can I do then?_ If I couldn't break the mirrors then what could I do to stop the jutsu-

Realization hit me hard and I dug my hand into my pouch, withdrawing six or so tags. "Tazuna-san, are you alright with me destroying part of the bridge?" I asked in a harsh whisper, more to fill the silence that was weighing on me than to ask permission. Haku hadn't begun his next wave of attacks yet as Naruto was currently (unintentionally helpfully) stalling the boy with angry questions about why they were ruining the lives of innocent townspeople.

Tazuna blinked then sighed, throwing his hands up in the air. "Knowing you ninja, you'd probably do it without my blessings, like your bloody sensei," he deduced correctly. "But, _damn it_ , at this point I'll be fine with starting from scratch if we get out of this alive. So, go ahead, do your worst ." He grinned at me.

I found it in me to feel some amusement at what he'd just said. Then, taking a desperate, calming breath, rushed forwards.

Sasuke noticed me as I ran in a wide circle around the dome, eyes meeting mine with a question then alarm when he noticed what I was doing. Haku saw me a split second later although, by the time he'd gone through the same reasoning as my Uchiha teammate, I was already running back to Tazuna. " _You-"_

"Naruto, get ready!" Sasuke yelled, the blonde twisting around in confusion.

"What do you mean _get ready_ -"

The explosion was deafening.

A stray piece of rubble barely missed me as Tazuna and I were thrown forwards, chest now as scratched as my back when we skidded across the ground. Smoke and dust billowed through the weak mist and I coughed, rolling onto my side and pushing myself to my feet. I felt somewhat dizzy and my ears rang with this incessant, high pitched noise. There was a reason after all why explosive tags weren't used so liberally by ninja aside from how dangerous they were.

I wiped my mouth with my arm warmer, seeing that we'd been thrown near the edge of the bridge and peering over it. The drop was fairly large, enough so that a civilian would be likely to die from the fall. But for a ninja…

" _You bastard, how the hell was I meant to get ready for that?!"_

" _Oh, shut up, idiot!"_

Two familiar figures bobbed in the water below, Sasuke heaving himself up so he was standing on it whilst Naruto continued to thrash about angrily. Both seemed a little singed and bloodied but it was nothing major - or at least not noticeably so from this distance.

"You destroyed the terrain rather than the mirrors." A smooth, slightly surprised voice sounded from within the smoke and I turned, squinting to see Haku still within his blocks of ice and staring at the gaping hole I'd blown in the bridge. Then, after a moment's pause, the ice began to melt away into nothingness and he stepped out onto the concrete, turning to face me. "You are rather clever."

In that moment I realized that I really hadn't thought this through enough and that I hadn't fucked up this much since willingly getting myself into Zabuza's close combat range. Because, even if I'd managed to get Naruto and Sasuke out of the reach of Haku's jutsu, they were down at sea level and I was up here with the boy.

Alone.

 _Shit._

My heart flew up into my mouth as Haku suddenly flew at me and I practically kicked Tazuna out of the way, chakra pulsing and panicking much like it had when Zabuza had released his killing intent those few days ago. The air became that little bit more difficult to breath and I yanked out a kunai that barely blocked the bone-shuddering blow of Haku with his delicately held senbon. The sound of metal screaming made my already hurting ears _burn_ , feet sliding across the ground at the weight of the attack. Haku simply raised his other hand, another senbon twisted in his fingers, and brought down towards my shoulder, fast.

I was no Sasuke Uchiha. My skill didn't lie in speed or the perfect throwing of sharp projectiles.

So I was unable to stop the 20 cm of razor-sharp steel from digging deep into my recently dislocated shoulder.

I didn't remember screaming but I remembered slamming my knee upwards in a frenzied attempt to get him _away._ White noise caused by burning hot agony filled my ears and I couldn't hear Sasuke and Naruto's strained yells at my scream. All I could see was Haku and that he'd withdrawn his arms to block, however, the force of which I'd thrown my knee upwards mixed with chakra was knocking him back a few paces.

I had to drop my kunai to hurl a barrage of shuriken in order to keep him back when he started in another charge, other arm seizing and spasming - _oh god, did he hit a pressure point, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts._ However, I caught the kunai in a fumbling reach as I jumped back, craning my neck around to see whether I was going to crash into something when I landed. Ice forming out of thin air met my gaze and a painful gasp ripped itself from my throat.

Fear overrode what agony I felt and I chucked the kunai before awkwardly forming signs with my almost unresponsive arm, replacing a piece of rubble near to the gaping hole in the bridge. I almost fell as I turned, Haku shooting out of the ice mirror right by where I'd just been. My body made a plan my mind couldn't keep up with, chakra threads flying to the shuriken Haku had earlier dodged and pulling them up. I spun on my heel, wrenching the small bladed weapons around so they gained momentum and smacked the raining pointy metal out of the air.

Some made it through the impromptu shield and dug their way into my skin, although, whilst it might have been my imagination, I got this strange feeling that the needles had slowed down by an almost imperceptible amount when they'd gotten within a certain radius of me.

Gritting my teeth as tears stung my eyes, I continued pivoting round, then let the chakra threads break and the shuriken fly free. They soared towards Haku, the boy hitting each and every one with terrifying precision and pinning them to the ground. However, I'd moved before he could use that same deadly accuracy on me, earlier kunai replaced and performing a sweeping kick. He jumped over it easily despite the wounded leg, twisting in mid-air and senbon ready to throw from a distance he couldn't miss-

" _Leaf Hurricane!"_

Haku was suddenly sent crashing into the ground, skidding across concrete and letting out something between a gasp and cry. Orange leg-warmers and sandals landed in front of me with this surprisingly quietness and grace considering that I already knew who it was. "W-what…?" Haku was understandably confused, shakily pushing himself off the ground to stare at the newcomer.

"There is no reason to fear anymore, fellow Konoha ninja!" The new arrival spread his feet apart in a fighting stance, one hand pressed flat against his back and the other outstretched in a 'come hither'-like gesture. "For I, Rock Lee, have arrived!"

I found myself lost between 'thank fuck' and 'what the fuck'.

"Kakashi Hatake must've called for backup…" Haku mumbled as Tazuna stumbled over to me, gazing at Lee with wide, bewildered eyes but recognizing the headband tied around his waist. "I am sorry but I must finish this quickly and go to Zabuza-san."

Lee frowned, muscles tensing a little more. "You will not leave this place, enemy of Konoha!" He declared confidently. Haku didn't move for a moment, expression hidden beneath the scratched and battered hunter-nin's mask. Then, there was a flash of movement so fast I could barely follow it - but that was slow for Haku, I knew, because I wasn't meant to be able to see him move. Even so, had it been me, I wouldn't have been able to defend myself, however, it wasn't me, and Lee delivered a rib crushing punch to Haku's chest.

The boy gasped and a droplet of blood flew out from the bottom of his mask, flying backwards. "Who the hell is this green creature?" Tazuna asked in a harsh whisper once he was close enough, eyes having grown even larger.

I didn't have time to answer, both of us distracted by Lee suddenly vanishing out of sight and appearing right in front of Haku. " _Too slow_!" His fist broke through Haku's mask, it shattering into pieces that cut across the boy's cheeks as knuckles barrelled into his nose. He was sent soaring through the air, tumbling across the concrete and then finally slamming so hard into the wall on the other side of the bridge it cracked.

Tazuna swore as Haku coughed violently, breathing laboured and eyes watery. Lee simply went into his normal stance again, not having even broken a sweat. "You will not defeat me," he announced. "Surrender."

Haku narrowed his eyes and, slowly, got to his feet. " _Not here."_ I barely heard his whisper and Lee smiled slightly, beginning to say something about the tenacity of his opponent being admirable indeed. It was cut off by a yell coming from the other side of the bridge, Naruto clambering over the edge with Sasuke. The latter was already beginning to throw something but they were both staring at me with wide, panicked eyes.

" _Sakura-chan, watch out!"_

I spun to see Haku emerging from a mirror I hadn't noticed forming behind me, arm reaching out and senbons at the ready. Instincts honed at the Academy and by all the fights I'd been in thus far kicked in hard. _Literally_.

My foot with chakra spike and all slammed into Haku's arm and I felt the bone giving way, needles flying wide and digging into my side rather than my chest. The boy fell into the concrete, dragged fully out of the mirror by the attack that had only landed because of the beating he'd already taken. The shuriken Sasuke had thrown cut through Haku's clothing and skin.

I stumbled backwards, breathing hard and twisting back around to see Lee staring, face now surprisingly flushed. He then shook his head and powered in front of me, delivering one last kick that sent Haku fully sprawling. "It is over now!"

Blood bubbled down Haku's chin as both Naruto and Sasuke joined me beside Tazuna, the blonde already babbling anxious questions as to whether I was okay that I couldn't answer, chest heaving. Everything _hurt_ and my head was still spinning so much I half couldn't believe I'd managed to think straight for long enough to land that hit on Haku. Hell, part of me was convinced that Lee's presence here was a desperate mirage thought up in my mind as I was bleeding to death from wounds inflicted by Haku's hand.

 _But you're alive._

I took in another choking, wheezing breath of dusty, mist-filled air that hurt my lungs.

 _Oh god, I am alive._

* * *

 _ **Extra**_

Lee's lips tugged into a smile as he stared down at his opponent, fierce, determined eyes meeting his. They were truly a worthy adversary. Covered in bruises and blood and with at least one broken rib by now, the pain they were in had to be almost unbearable, and yet they got to their feet again with resolve that could not be broken by mere fists and feet.

Despite being his enemy, Lee could not help but feel a surge of respect for the boy.

 _I must face him seriously in return for his powerful determination,_ the Konoha-nin decided with a nod of the head. "Your tenacity is-"

" _Sakura-chan, watch out!"_

Lee blinked to see his opponent suddenly disappearing into a block of ice that certainly hadn't been there a second ago, then twisted round to see where the source of the shrieked warning had come from. Halfway through the turn, he realized the reason for it and paled in horror at the sight of his enemy emerging from another 'ice-mirror', senbon needles drawn back and ready to be thrown.

 _Oh no, that girl…!_

She was already injured badly and he'd allowed the boy, who had been about to seriously injure her when Lee had first arrived, to get close again! Panic shot through his veins and he began to dash forwards, half aware of the shuriken thrown by one of the boys that had suddenly appeared over the side of the bridge. But, even at full speed, he might not make it-

The girl spun, foot shooting out and _barrelling_ into her attacker's arm. There was this loud snapping noise and the boy went slamming down to Earth, needles burying themselves in his target's side. Lee skidded to a halt with wide eyes as the hooded girl stumbled back and then twisted around.

Some strands of her pink hair that weren't hidden by her hood flew up at the movement, revealing wide, pained but also determined green eyes that focused on him. Her lips, scratched and bloodied like the rest of her face, were parted as if she was a little surprised that her kick had landed.

The first thought that popped into Lee's mind at the sight wasn't that of immense relief at the girl's safety, nor was it anger at himself for having not been more aware of what his opponent had been doing. No, it was instead, accompanied by the fierce reddening of his cheeks:

' _I would totally let her kick me.'_

* * *

 **Yes, you asked for action and I am here with all of it. You're welcome. Three fights (sorta) in one. It was almost four because I ended up cutting this chapter short due to the word count getting away from me OTL**

 **Fun fact: Sakura running at the Demon Brother and swinging herself around his gauntlet was originally how I wrote her fight with the first going, except she placed explosive tags on the gauntlet before substituting away. I ended up deciding it didn't fit with her state of mind at the time (she wasn't going to be charging at anyone without an internal pep talk), but it worked in better here where she was so used to having to deal with the idea of Zabuza and Haku that a chūnin ranked enemy was suddenly a very safe opponent to have. The more you know.**

 **A lot of you guys also correctly guessed the hidden in the mist jutsu as being what Sakura learnt. I was surprised so many people seemed to actually look up what she was learning (unless you all somehow remembered it was a D-rank jutsu with three hand signs haha) but the joys of having a very organized wiki I suppose ;)**

 **Reviewer Question:**

 **Which character would you let kick you and still love despite the pain? (I'm sorry it's not a serious one but that was all I could think about OTL)**

 **Kakashi. He could probably throw me off a cliff and I'd thank him.**


	18. Nothing is more expensive

**Tried to reply to everyone so sorry if I missed your review by accident!**

* * *

 _ **Tada yori takai mono wa nai**_

" _ **Nothing is more expensive than free."**_

 _ **Debts of gratitude are not so easily repaid**_

* * *

"Uh, what should we do with this guy now?" Naruto asked tentatively, peering over at the very much unconscious body of Haku. The last attack, courtesy of Lee, had knocked him clean out, the slow rising and falling of his chest being the only thing indicating the boy was alive. Sure, he could have been faking it, but, considering what I knew of his canon personality and the way he'd been acting here, I doubted he'd use such a tactic.

"If we tie him up he won't be able to attack us again," Sasuke suggested, squinting his eyes at the Konoha headband tied around Lee's waist. He looked as though he wanted to demand the green boy to tell him who he was, but restraining Haku was the priority so he let it go for now, instead removing a loop of wire from his pouch. Approaching our unconscious enemy, Sasuke had to side step to avoid treading on the mist headband that had flown off Haku during Lee's final attack, metal face down on the concrete.

Whilst he did that, I allowed Naruto to gently lower me onto the ground, fingers careful to avoid the senbon sticking out of my skin. The needles in my side hurt the most, shifting inside of me as I leant back, although I resisted the urge to yank them out. They might've been small incisions but they were deep and many in number, and I was acutely aware of the fact that blood loss wasn't something us ninja were immune to.

No, it was better to keep them in until I had someone medically trained, or at least Kakashi, look over me.

(Still. Didn't mean it didn't hurt like a _bitch._ )

I watched as Sasuke bound Haku's arms to his sides, then, as an afterthought, his fingers together, remembering how Haku could perform one-handed seals. It felt almost strange to see this kind of 'mercy' when I'd killed that Demon Brother who had been in a compromised position like the unconscious Haku. The memory of it half made me want to demand Sasuke slit Haku's throat instead before he woke up because death was the only way to permanently ensure he wouldn't get back up and fight us again.

And I really, _really_ didn't want to fight anymore.

Lee looked on as Sasuke moved to tying Haku's legs together, periodically twisting around to glance back at us and flushing slightly. Naruto leant towards me with a suspicious squint at the green boy. "Hey, Sakura-chan, who is that? I mean, they've got the Konoha headband and everything but I dunno, they seem pretty _weird…_ " Tazuna nodded feverently in agreement.

 _I think 'weird' is an understatement when describing Lee._

I was then spared from answering by a loud yell, everyone twisting around to see who had made the noise. Zabuza's form subsequently flying through the air would've been comical if it weren't for the fact I knew how strong the man was and it was instead _terrifying._

"Gai-sensei!" Lee called with a bright smile when the man appeared with an equally if not more blinding grin.

"Sorry I'm late, Kakashi here was getting a little wobbly on his feet." Gai laughed heartily, yanking the said jōnin into view by the arm, who looked somewhat displeased at how he was being manhandled.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted, following the trend of yelling people's names as they arrived.

The rush of relief almost knocked the air out of me and I felt myself getting stuck between this sudden, overwhelming urge to cry and the adrenaline still rushing through my veins that demanded I get back to my feet in an image of strength _immediately_. Because Kakashi, whose name for me was a synonym for safety, was here but so was Zabuza, who was danger, danger, _danger._

It didn't matter that the swordsman was crumpled in a heap on the other side of the bridge, didn't matter his arms were twisted at unnatural angles, didn't matter his sword lay a few metres away from him, didn't matter as long as blood was still pumping through his veins and he was alive.

Kakashi snapped his gaze onto us and pulled his arm free of Gai's grip, sauntering casually over save for the couple of shaky steps. "Hello, my cute students." That usual condescending smile of his was back but his eyes were hard, flickering over our forms and assessing what damage had been done. The relief at our lack of life threatening injuries was obvious, although he didn't look exactly happy at the wounds we had sustained either, gaze hovering especially long over the stick of metal in my already bad shoulder.

He then flicked his gaze towards Haku and raised an eyebrow. "My, my, you've been busy bees, haven't you? Oh, by the way, you all look absolutely awful."

Naruto spluttered. Sasuke rolled his eyes. I pushed down a bubble of hysterical laughter because a missing-nin was _right there_ and he was commenting on how _shit_ we looked? "I could say the same of you, sensei."

The jōnin put his hand to his chest. "I always look beautiful, Sakura, how could you insinuate otherwise?"

"Because it's true?" It was. Kakashi's hair was matted with blood and dirt, and his clothing torn in several places. For once, I thought I might look better off than he did, and I had no delusions about my attractiveness even on good days.

"I faced a missing-nin for you all and _this_ is how I'm repaid?"

Naruto huffed and folded his arms. "Yeah and we faced that Haku guy too so big deal, Kakashi-sensei!" Despite what he was saying, a relieved smile (although tinged with anxiousness) was edging onto his lips that seemed, amongst the blood and rubble on the bridge, so out of place.

Kakashi muttered something about us being ungrateful, then flicked his gaze back over to Gai, who had moved to stand in front of Zabuza's crumpled form. Clearly, the green jōnin didn't need any of Kakashi's help, looking practically unscathed by the broken swordsman. "The rest of Gai's team are picking up our clients now," our teacher informed us, light joking tone from earlier receding to a more serious one.

I thought back to the women we'd hidden around the town in pairs with traps that fired shuriken barring the entrance to their hiding places. Initially, we'd planned to hide Tazuna away too, but he'd been the last on our list to conceal as an unofficial client of ours and Zabuza and Haku had arrived before we could reach the spot he was to be hidden in.

It had been a gamble doing that as Zabuza and Haku could've easily decided to take the civilians out first rather than us ninja, realizing early on that the women with us were transformed clones had their focus been that. But everything Kakashi did was risky and, really, had any of the plans he'd made failed, our situation wouldn't have gotten that much worse. We'd already reached rock bottom. For example, if Zabuza had realized I was moving in the mist back then, I'd've not increased the target put on me by much since he was likely to have attacked me first anyway.

In the case of hiding the women around the town, they were so much safer out of the heat of battle that us not being able to immediately go to their aid was a reasonable trade off. Besides, if Zabuza and Haku really had focused on them, then, with more civilians than there were ninja, their death was likely to have been inevitable either way.

Morbid, yes, but this was a morbid profession we led and Kakashi had faced that fact objectively in order to increase whatever chances we had of survival.

"So, these people are our backup?" Sasuke asked for confirmation, glancing over at Lee with a slight frown.

"Ah, actually no. Konoha sent a team filled with chūnin but…" Kakashi shot a meaningful look at Lee too, the boy noticing this and beaming again.

"We met that team whilst on our way back from a mission and Gai-sensei insisted we assist his eternal rival! So we ran here as fast as we could to help!" His eyes shone.

The jōnin nodded. "Yes, and in the process left that chūnin team in the dust so now have no idea where they are." He sounded somewhat exasperated but as though it was something to be entirely expected with Gai involved.

Sasuke stared. "They're a _genin_ team?"

Kakashi opened his mouth to reply, but everyone's attention was stolen by Zabuza struggling to his feet with loud grunts and bloody coughs. His chest was heaving and a snarl left his throat. "What are you waiting for?" He hissed. "Come closer to I can wring your little neck, you Konoha _bastard_."

Lee made a noise of outrage but Gai only reacted with the slight narrowing of his eyes. "Your arms are both broken, Zabuza Momochi, and your accomplice defeated. Surrender, you cannot win against us."

Zabuza twisted his head around to look at Haku, eyes widening a fraction. "Haku, they beat you…?" Surprise then turned to sneering anger and he snapped his neck back round to glare at Gai. "Hmph, that brat is useless to me then. I don't use broken tools."

Lee began to make another noise of even greater outrage but I didn't hear Gai's response on how Zabuza's coldheartedness hadn't been exaggerated by rumours. Kakashi's hand pressed onto my good shoulder and his voice lowered to a whisper. "Who killed the man in front of the bridge?"

 _The Demon Brother._ "I did," I answered simply, quietly.

Kakashi's grip tightened. "Seems I made things harder for you." He was referring to the fact he'd left that man alive when he'd faced him during our run from Gatō's base. "Sorry, Sakura."

The apology, whilst entirely genuine, wasn't really comforting at all.

"Very well." Gai stepped back into his usual fighting stance, eyes hard and angry. "If a fight to the death is what you wish for then I, Maito Gai, am more than happy to fulfil this wish of yo-"

The jōnin suddenly launched himself backwards towards Lee and Sasuke, barely dodging the needles that flew directly into Zabuza's chest, knocking him down. Kakashi moved at the exact same moment with wide eyes and body positioned defensively in front of Naruto, Tazuna and me. The mist was thickening ever so slightly, I realized, and panic shifted over my skin in tandem with my chakra ( _more enemies, oh god no, just let this end already, I'm in pain and so_ _ **tired**_ _)._

Then, I saw who it was.

Masked figures, four of them, landed lightly on the concrete in front of Zabuza, who was gasping and coughing up copious amounts of blood. The masks were familiar too, small slits cut into them to act as eye-holes and almost entirely white save for simple patterns in block colours. At the top of the masks was etched those recognizable squiggly lines and they were all so very much like the shattered mask that had belonged to Haku, which was now scattered across the bridge in numerous tiny pieces.

 _Hunter-nin. Kiri hunter-nin._

I wasn't sure whether me recognizing who they were made their sudden arrival any less of a cause for panic. Whilst we weren't officially at war with anyone, Kiri wasn't exactly anything close to an amiable fellow hidden village to Konoha either. Right now, they were known as the 'Bloody Mist', steeped in death, corruption and hostility. Civil war was knocking on its doorstep so, realistically, they shouldn't be starting anything to anger other villages and trigger another ninja war. But it was a village known for raising the worst psychopathic murderers this world had ever seen and its current Kage was considered one of them.

So these hunter-nin were not by any stretch of the word our allies, even if they had just attacked Zabuza.

"We are not here to fight, Konoha-nin," one announced, although neither Gai or Kakashi moved to drop their defensive stances. "Our target is the missing-nin Zabuza Momochi, whom we have been tracking for quite some time."

" _Hunter-nin?_ " Naruto hissed out the question, eyes wide and confused. Somewhere, I was sure, Iruka was banging his head against a wall.

Kakashi snapped back a very concise description of what the people before us were and did. "They track down dangerous missing-nin that defected from their village and _erase_ their very presence off the Earth. These ones are from Kiri."

Naruto looked somewhat alarmed by the description but Sasuke on the other hand seemed familiar with it. _He probably looked into it as a possible route to revenge against Itachi - the ANBU does have its own similar faction to the Kiri Hunter-nin after all._

Two of the hunter-nin stayed facing Kakashi and Gai whilst the other two twisted around to look at Zabuza. "Where is your apprentice?" One asked, voice deep and gruff.

Zabuza glowered at them, bandages around his mouth beginning to unravel with blood dying the white cloth red. " _What_ apprentice?"

Needles flew deep into his knees and he made a twisted, guttural sound of agony. "The one that has been acting as a fake hunter-nin and covering your tracks." It didn't matter we Konoha-nin could hear this - Zabuza's name had already been detailed in bingo books and therefore it would only be a matter of time before anyone else figured this out. The hunter-nin that had been speaking then gestured towards Haku. "Is that them?"

Zabuza followed the line of their pointed finger towards Haku's tied up form. He was still unconscious, turned onto his side facing away from the swordsman. The man's pause caused another needle to be flicked into his shoulder and his already broken arm spasmed, sharp teeth gritting together in pain. Zabuza flicked his gaze back to the hunter-nin and there was something akin to fear in his eyes. Realization that both his arms had been taken out and that he was vastly, vastly outnumbered.

 _He is going to die here,_ I realized as his expression began to morph into something more unreadable. _He is going to die here and he knows it._

Then, Zabuza's lips twisted into a sneer. "I've never seen that guy before in my life."

To Naruto's credit, he'd only managed to have the subtle reaction of the widening of his eyes before Kakashi had signed 'quiet' behind his back, halting my teammate from pointing out that Zabuza did very much know who _that guy_ was.

"The guy you think of as my 'apprentice' upped and left last night," Zabuza rasped. "Good riddance too, the brat was far too soft-hearted and weak. I don't have any need for tools that won't _kill_." Throaty, bloody laughter tore itself from his throat as his glare switched to Kakashi. "He'd fit in well with you Konoha bastards. You'd probably ask him to join your merry little band of friends playing at being _ninja._ "

It was something akin to a veiled request towards Kakashi. _Haku is soft-hearted and weak. He doesn't want to kill. He's like what Konoha portrays its ninja to be: merciful and kind in their power._

"...He's right, that guy over there is just a random mercenary." Kakashi accepted the request. Because sometimes it was easy to forget that, with all the stories of his deadliness and brutal efficiency, Kakashi was surprisingly merciful. He hadn't killed the Demon Brother that had attacked him. He hadn't abandoned Tazuna when his safety wasn't really any of our concern. So, was it really that strange for him to then save Haku when Zabuza had all but silently pleaded for him to do so?

"He attacked Konoha-nin," Kakashi continued, narrowing his eyes at the hunter-nin now staring at him. "Zabuza defected from your village so you're free to do with him as you please, but what we do with this mercenary is our business, not yours, _Kiri-nin._ " That was all but a declaration that we would fight the hunter-nin if they tried to kill Haku too. To be fair, it was probably a bluff, but Kakashi and Gai, the latter to a lesser extent, were infamous. Hence it wasn't unexpected when the hunter-nin eventually nodded in acceptance of his words, turning back to Zabuza.

The swordsman grinned at them, red pointy teeth and all. He'd never looked like anything more of a demon than at that exact moment. "Go on then, kill me. I've been _long_ overdue that trip to hell!" He suddenly lunged forwards, teeth digging into the nearest hunter-nin's leg. The Kiri-nin had to kick the man hard to get him off and a twisted laugh broke past his lips again, which was cut off into a choking wheeze when a barrage of needles flew through his neck. A blade then slid through skin and removed his head with horrifying ease.

Naruto made a choking noise whilst Sasuke froze up entirely. It was the first time my teammates had seen death - Sasuke had been shown a terrifying genjutsu of the deaths of all his clan members, yes, but this was the first time he'd seen it in the flesh, saw the exact moment life left someone's body with his own eyes.

Tired anger at the injustice of their first in-person brush with death being so distant and clean compared to mine made my headache worse.

The hunter-nin worked quickly, one unrolling a scroll that spat out fire, which proceeded to incinerate Zabuza's body as per protocol, whilst another picked up the now dead man's large sword. Flames flickered away in the sea breeze, growing smaller as the headless corpse disintegrated. When only the smallest of embers were left, the hunter-nin departed as soundlessly as they'd arrived.

Haku was still unconscious.

"What...what the hell was that?!" Naruto was the first to speak, voice strained and blue eyes large. "They- they just-"

"It's what they do, Naruto." Kakashi didn't sound like he was in the mood for the blonde's questions, slipping down his headband over his sharingan. "To stop other villages from examining their ninjas' bodies and learning their secrets, they destroy them completely, only taking the head as proof. Every village does this, even to those that have not defected."

Naruto took a sharp intake of breath whilst Lee furrowed his brows. "But that is…" Lee blinked and glanced upwards when Gai rested his hand on his shoulder.

"The way of a ninja is tough, Lee. Think of it this way: when you die for the sake of your village, by destroying your body you are able to continue protecting it even in death." Gai raised his clenched fist and closed his eyes that were pricked with tears. "It ends in a blaze of fire, as it should."

Lee's eyes became watery too. "How poetic, Gai-sensei," he spoke in a more muted tone but there was fierce emotion behind every word.

Naruto stared at the two of them, clearly bewildered by their reaction. "Zabuza did a _coup_ on his village-"

Tazuna cut him off with a pat on the head that was incredibly grandfatherly. "Kid, that guy wasn't a good man. He was going to kill us all and so he got his just reward. Don't go feeling sorry for him, he wasn't worth it."

The blonde clenched his fists and stared down at the ground, teary eyed but for entirely different reasons to Lee and Gai. "But Haku- he saved _Haku..."_

It was less of a grandiose act Naruto was making it out to be. All Zabuza had done was just avoid dragging Haku down with him. There hadn't been a need for an emotional speech on my teammate's part to get him to do something for the boy. He was going to die, no doubt about it, and he'd seen a way for Haku, whose face had never been known to Kiri as he'd never been an official ninja there, to survive. So he'd taken it.

Perhaps it seemed more unbelievable to Naruto, who had only heard of Zabuza speak of Haku as a tool, but I'd seen the swordsman cry over his death, gently press his hand to his cheek with a whispered, mournful wish to see him again. Those emotions hadn't been magically incurred at the moment of Naruto's speech. They'd been there for a long time and thus controlled the simple, final lies that would save Haku's life.

"Gai-sensei!" A shout made us all turn to see Tenten and Neji approaching, our clients following behind them. Upon seeing the women, Naruto rubbed his eyes with his sleeve furiously, lips curling into a troubled but genuinely relieved smile at the sight of them unscathed.

Well, unscathed physically at the very least.

Neji stopped in front of us all, eyes briefly scanning over our forms. They hesitated momentarily on Sasuke, brows furrowing a little. The Uchiha noticed this and, despite clearly suffering from some form of shock, scowled back. _Prodigies with inherited dōjutsu,_ I thought, then suddenly realized Sasuke hadn't technically gotten his sharingan yet.

 _Oh fuck me, that's definitely going to cause a billion other issues now, isn't it? God, one problem at a time Sakura, one damn problem at a time._

"I see everything went well," Gai observed, placing his hands on his hips and nodding as though he'd expected as much. "Good work team!"

"Yeah, anyway-" Tenten brushed off the praise with a look that said 'not now', "-what were those hunter-nin doing here? We passed by them on our way whilst they were carrying around…" She trailed off, shuddering a little. A rather mediocre reaction to seeing a severed head but it was entirely likely team Gai had encountered death before even with how Lee had reacted to Zabuza's execution.

"They were eliminating a target," Kakashi told her, bluntly. He was becoming a little more shaky on his feet again, although less so than our clients. Even if Zabuza had been an object of hatred for them due to the murder of their friend, the sight of the amputated head of anyone was bound to be trauma inducing.

I wondered whether later when pain wasn't ricocheting around my skull and burning through my torn skin, I would throw up from the memory.

" _Ugh…"_

Had the situation been different, the way everyone had become battle ready at the sound of Haku's groan would've probably been hilarious. Instead I felt the pain of the needles in my body become sharper and a sour, bitter taste rise in the back of my mouth.

Haku's eyes flickered open and he breathed loudly through his nose that was crusted with blood. There was a moment before his vision focused and he recalled what had happened last to him, then a brief struggle against the wire keeping his limbs pinned in position. Realizing he couldn't wriggle himself free, Haku instead tried to view what he could of his surroundings in his compromised pose, eyes widening at the sight of Kakashi. "You- where is Zabuza-san?" His voice was raspy and raw but the anxiety was rampant in it ( _you're meant to be fighting against Zabuza-san, why are you here,_ _ **what has happened to Zabuza-san?**_ _)._

Instead of responding flippantly like he had been doing, Kakashi hesitated, then was saved entirely from answering by the sound of movement. Mass movement.

Neji activated his byakugan without a moment's pause, Sasuke's eyes flashing with recognition whilst Naruto continued to be woefully ignorant of things he really shouldn't be. "A large group of men are approaching," he relayed back. "Around fifty - civilian level chakra."

Kakashi relaxed at that. "Any chance you see a short man with a cane leading the 'charge'?"

A curt nod.

" _Gatō…_?" Haku didn't sound relieved at all. He probably knew the short man wasn't the type to send 'backup' to those he'd hired, suspicion and confusion warping his bloodied face.

I got gingerly to my feet, Naruto immediately offering a helping hand whilst Tenten herded the woman behind us. Passing me by, Yoyotose cast a concerned look at my shoulder but there were bigger things to worry about.

When Gatō stepped into view, Tazuna practically growled under his breath, although there was some obvious satisfaction that his nose, which Naruto had punched, was bandaged up. His cane tapped obnoxiously on the concrete whilst the hired mercenaries sneered and jeered cockily at us. Perhaps were they facing a genin team without their jōnin-sensei then they might've had reason to be so confident. Numbers would eventually overwhelm chakra and usually it was considered that a standard genin had the strength of ten semi-trained civilians. Fifty would have been more than enough to deal with us.

However, that was not the situation we were in.

"You're still all alive? How disappointing," Gatō crooned as my eyes slid over the mercenaries. Rusted blades. Light armour. _Was that a fucking scythe?_ "I was hoping you'd be dead by now."

"Sorry to dash your dreams," Kakashi replied, Gatō twitching at how unphased the man seemed as Gai chuckled at his eternal rival's sense of humour.

The gremlin-like individual caught sight of Haku and his scowl deepened, fat, ring-adorned fingers flexing about the head of his cane. "And you're alive too? Not even those hunter-nin can do anything right," he huffed dramatically.

Haku stiffened. " _What did you say?"_

Gatō blinked, then the leery smile was back. "Oh yes, those hunter-nin just passed me by with that ' _demon'_ Zabuza's sword and head. Quite the nice surprise too since I didn't have to even personally request they take on the job." His smile widened at the memory. "All I did was place a bounty on both of your heads and they showed up asking about information. Didn't even ask for any money, although, with the shoddy job they've done by leaving you alive, I shouldn't have expected better."

There was a moment of silence save the oblivious cackling from the mercenaries and howling from the sea.

After that moment however, a killing intent swirled in the air. It was recognizably different to what Zabuza's had been. Cold, sharp, _painful_ waves that were in a concentrated stream unlike the overwhelming tsunami of the swordsman's. My chakra panicked and it was difficult to breathe again, air suddenly thicker in that chakra bubble around me, although it was better than outside it in the pure killing intent.

Some of the mercenaries towards the front of the crowd reacted a little but they were just too far away to feel the full effects. To my side, I saw Tenten gasping slightly and in my peripheral vision Matsubito shaking violently.

" _Untie me_. _"_ No one moved the first time round other than to look at Haku. His face had become taut with rage, gaze fixed solely on Gatō. "I said: _untie me!"_ His voice had risen to a furious snarl and Naruto flinched, hand gripping my forearm almost painfully.

An exchange of looks between the jōnin, then a nod and Gai flicked out a kunai, freeing Haku from his binds in one clean swipe of the blade.

Haku got slowly to his feet. The killing intent had softened a little at our release of him although the white hot anger continued to blaze away, if not more fiercely than earlier. Gatō was still blabbering on about his master plan to kill the missing-nin he'd hired instead of paying them.

Despite the bolt of panic at Haku - _Haku who'd been fighting against me not even ten minutes ago -_ being free to move, I couldn't help but wonder what the hell Gatō was thinking. It was a _stupid_ plan. Ninja, of both the loyal and missing kind, were expensive for a reason. They were better than civilians, worth so many of them that in the end they were actually cheaper to hire. And Gatō was meant to be filthy rich! What the hell did he think he was gaining by throwing away what to him would be pocket change at missing-nin that had, quite frankly, been doing a good job?

Had this been any other team then Zabuza and Haku could've easily won against us! Had Gatō any brain cells then he'd know that!

But Gatō was meant to be smart (ish). He was a business tycoon who was extremely successful and famous. Why was he making these stupid decisions? It added to my theory of this all being a huge conspiracy set up by some unknown person if he was just a puppet, but for how long had he been this puppet? Had he ever been making any choices himself? Was this even one of his decisions? _Had this been planned to be where he'd die?_

 _Was someone here right now, watching us, manipulating everything? If so, where would they be?_

A thought hit me as Haku let loose his hair, sharp pins tumbling down which he caught in the hand of his unbroken arm.

 _One of the mercenaries._

If they were smart enough to plan this all then was it really too large a leap to imagine they'd have a way to counteract the byakugan and seem indistinguishable from the other mercenaries? Most likely, whoever was in that crowd wasn't actually the perpetrator, just someone working under them, however, they were watching our movement through them. They were here, observing us, in all but physical body.

I scoured my eyes over the mob again.

 _Which one?_

Before the thoughts of a conspiracy had been somewhat distant and impersonal but now it was close, near enough to kill. Panic made its painful home in my chest and Naruto's hand on my arm that had before been an irritation was now an anchor attempting to forcibly bring me back to reality. I shouldn't be worrying about this. I should be carefully watching Haku. He was less of a potential ally than the hunter-nin had been, and that'd been close to zero to begin with.

 _Watch him._

* * *

Haku had never wanted to kill someone before.

Not when Zabuza had ordered him to dispatch of their pursuers when escaping Kiri, not when that little pink haired genin had stabbed that kunai through his ankle, not even when his own father had attempted to kill him ( _he'd just been trying to stop the man, to have his father go back to the loving one he knew instead of the stranger with tears running down his face and blade with his mother's blood on it clutched in one hand)._

But Gatō, oh that _wretched excuse_ of a human being _,_ he tore things out of Haku that Zabuza would've been _proud of_.

 _I will kill you._

The pins, always kept on Haku as a last resort for a desperate situation he'd never thought would arise, were cold in his hands. Those inches of pointy metal had always been heavy in his grip for they'd been the weight of his enemies lives. Lives of which he'd hesitated in taking.

" _Too soft,"_ Zabuza would grunt, ending it himself with a slash of his blade. " _I have no need for a tool that will not kill when I want it to. You understand, don't you, Haku?"_

 _Yes._ Haku gripped the pins tighter, hair brushing freely past his shoulders now it was loose. His eyes found Gatō and the man finally ceased his _stupid_ rambling. _I understand completely now, Zabuza-san. For if these weapons are unable to kill that man, I will throw them away in a heartbeat._

As he rose his hand, awkwardly forming a seal so the pins did not fall, Gatō raised his voice to a shout and stumbled backwards, fear having at last formed on his face. The men he'd hired began their taunts and cocky war cries as they started towards the boy, flimsy weapons brandished by inexperienced hands. Behind Haku, he heard a murmur of concern that came from the curious (for lack of better word) green boy, although he barely paid any heed to it.

 _I will_ _ **kill**_ _you._

Gatō was still running, gasping and panting as he retreated to the back of the mob. Like _hell_ if he was gonna stick around near that nutcase! Really, he'd half expected the boy to be pleased that 'demon' was dead considering how Zabuza had treated him like some object - and a very sharp and dangerous one at that. Although, he had been a _bitch_ to appease to when he'd made some (entirely warranted of course) comments on how the swordsman had gotten his ass beat by some Konoha-nin and then done jackshit about it for days.

God, and they wondered why he was so eager to betray them after those needles had nearly taken off his ear?

Bursting out of the other end of the crowd, Gatō twisted unstably around, licking his lips expectantly for the bloodbath to begin-

Only to see a mirror of ice blocking his view.

Haku slashed upwards in a wide, messy arc that he knew Zabuza would've scoffed at - _inefficient, sloppy, come on, you're better than that._ Yet all his usual precision had flown out of the window, vision blurred with tears and pace of breathing hugely out of control.

Gatō made this wheezing scream of a noise and the mercenaries all twisted around but his 'mirror trick' kept them rooted in their places, eyes wide in something like terror. Even the most ignorant of civilians could get it through their thick skulls that he was way, _way_ out of their league.

The boy continued moving, second pin driving deep into Gatō's chest, although again the blow was careless, imprecise. Zabuza's words were getting louder in their scorn, angrier, and Haku's lips moved in a silent, choked up apology, next pin moving fluidly between his fingers. This one was far better, point driving through the man's knee and causing him to collapse, begs for mercy garbled from the blood rising up his throat.

Not that Haku was listening, ears focused on the words of a lingering ghost and the sound of his own heartbeat that was thunderous in his head.

Gatō whimpered, struggling onto his side as he attempted to drag himself away. "W-what are you doing?!" He managed to shriek at the mob he'd hired. "Get him! _Kill him or you'll get nothing!"_ His collar was yanked backwards and more wheezing noises tore themselves from his throat, hands clawing at the concrete and air.

 _No, not here! I refuse to die here on this idiotic bridge! I am Gatō, the millionaire who owns everything and I will not die at the hands of this brat!_

The businessman's face was twisted in his agony and fury, arms reaching out weakly in this last ditch attempt to push away his attacker as he was forcibly rolled onto his back. One hand latched tightly onto his throat and Haku raised his final pin, ready to slash it across his neck and leave him to bleed out slowly with his fatal wounds. _Kill him,_ Zabuza's voice, mixed in with his own, ordered. _Slit his throat. Make him pay._

 _Be my tool that kills as I will it._

And Haku hated how everything contorted inside him, how he wanted so much to let the man die in blinding pain but at the same time didn't want to kill, didn't want to cause such agony to anyone. _I am weak,_ he thought, with tears streaming down his face and onto Gatō's cheeks as the man writhed in his grip. The final pin was still raised in mid-air, hesitating above the target it should have already been cutting through. He scrunched his eyes shut. _Even now, when you are dead and this man is at fault, I am weak._

 _However, I...I cannot...I will not fail you this final time._

"Get him!

An arm suddenly wrapped around his waist and Haku found himself being forcibly dragged backwards, eyes snapping open to see Kakashi pulling him out of the way of a rusted blade.

The boy and Kakashi both crashed ungracefully into one of the sides of the bridge, pain ricocheting up Haku's broken arm. An agonised groan left his lips, the jōnin making a similar noise, and it took a moment for Haku to take in what was going on around him. Gai was sweeping through the mercenaries that had abruptly regained the ability to move with Gatō's reminder that they could only get money if he was alive. Said businessman was just visible through the sudden hubbub of fighting, someone dragging him away as he looked less than happy despite having been saved from his imminent demise.

A rush of anger flowed through the boy and he struggled in Kakashi's grip. "Let me go! I need to- I've got to kill him, let me _go!_ "

Kakashi narrowed his eye, all too aware of the fact that, whilst both of them had lost a lot of chakra, Haku had more than he did. Gai's students however seemed to notice his difficulty in keeping the boy restrained and two of them, Lee staying behind to stand protectively in front of the rest of team seven, rushed over.

The Hyūga kid powered forwards, veins bulging on the sides of his head and delivering a few powerful blows to Haku's arms. Tenten, on the other hand, flicked out two spools of wire, expertly flinging them through the air so that they wrapped effortlessly around the target's body. With a small tug, the wire tightened and Haku slammed onto his side, completely immobilised in a matter of seconds.

"Are you alright, Kakashi-sensei?" She asked, the jōnin offering a quick nod of the head as he pushed himself back to his feet.

"Why- why are you doing this when you let me free before?!" Haku demanded to know, voice laced with burning anger and regretful grief. He'd hesitated, oh god, Gatō had been right there and he'd _hesitated_ instead of killing him like he should have!

And now he couldn't even hear the ghost reprimanding him for his mistake - _I'll kill him so please come back, Zabuza-san, please don't leave me alone!_

The tears were hot on his face as Kakashi regarded him, not entirely coldly. "Taking revenge against Gatō is one thing but dying whilst doing so is another." Really, he'd have kept Haku tied up and killed Gatō instead if he could've, but the higher ups would have his head if he did. It didn't matter that Gatō had attacked them with the intention to kill, the man was filthy rich and you don't just go around killing wealthy people just because they attempted to _murder_ you.

(Lives of soldiers were considered a commodity in comparison to money and Kakashi knew full well that was the view far too many powerful people took.)

No, the only chance they'd had to kill Gatō was with Haku as the murder weapon. And now that chance had passed, the goal posts had changed and keeping Haku alive was the objective. Not just because Zabuza had pleaded with the jōnin to save him but because what he knew would be an asset to Konoha.

Of course, this didn't mean that Gatō was going to get a free ride out of the situation, but killing the man would gain Kakashi more than just a slap on the wrist. Perhaps when he was younger he'd be forgiven for acting on such emotions, however, now he was older, he was supposed to be wholly aware of how his actions had consequences and that everything could be twisted more in your favour if you tried hard enough.

He never had liked politics very much, even if he could begrudgingly drag himself through it all with somewhat minor damage inflicted upon him.

At the very least, Kakashi now knew Zabuza had been completely truthful in his declaration of Haku being 'weak'. He'd hesitated even in killing Gatō, despite clearly wishing now that he hadn't. The boy wasn't so dangerous that he would be forced to kill him to protect his team like he could feel Sakura wishing he would with her confused, desperate gaze on his back.

Fear still had it's claws dug deep into her, Kakashi observed. That was an issue they'd deal with later however. _For now…_ Meeting Neji's eyes, he gave the nod of approval, the Hyūga's hand cracking into Haku's temple and knocking him out instantly.

* * *

Naruto sucked in a deep breath through his teeth when Haku fell quite obviously unconscious once more, Sasuke having the same knee-jerk reaction to the sight whilst I felt the inklings of relief the boy was out of the picture again. It was hard to feel entirely relaxed however when Gatō's mob was still in frame, although Gai was handling it somewhat spectacularly.

People were flying this way and that, a few toppling over the sides of the bridge that would presumably die from the fall. The great leader of this ill-prepared crowd was barely visible through the thin mist, wounds leaving a bloody trail behind him as a small group of men carted him off the bridge. Haku might not have dealt the definitive finishing blow but I heavily suspected the man would die anyway from his injuries if he didn't find medical help fast.

A few more men went flying into the concrete before they retreated entirely, all too aware that Gai was wiping the floor with them and hadn't even broken a sweat whilst doing so yet. His fighting style was almost brutally mesmerising the watch, especially since I was teetering on the edge of deciding for sure whether to specialise in taijutsu or not.

"Bunch of cowards, the lot of them!" Gai laughed heartily when he sent the final man packing with a brutal punch to the shoulder, then saw the solemn faces of those around him and coughed somewhat awkwardly.

It had technically been a resounding victory for us: no casualties on our side and a prisoner to boot. But my teammates were still reeling from Zabuza's execution and his final act of mercy towards Haku that revealed to them for the first time the many shades of grey in a world they'd thought was just black and white.

"Is it over?" Matsubito asked in a soft, shaking voice as Kakashi ambled over to us. Her girlfriend Yoyotose was clutching her hand so tight it had to hurt whilst Ukihashi held Orihae in a kind of shielding hug, the youngest of the women having turned away from the fighting completely. Tazuna, who I imagined would have been almost happy at Gatō's near death experience, just looked like a tired old man.

Kakashi cast his gaze over them before nodding. "Yes. You're all safe now."

* * *

 **Extra**

It had been when Zabuza had last laid his eyes on Haku that he'd realized he was going to die.

The thought had initially made him want to laugh. _Him? Die?_ It was a preposterous notion! He'd lived through so many things that should've killed him that death supposedly knew better than to dig their claws into his soul and rip it from his body.

And yet here it was, waiting for him to take his final breath as he cast that final look at the boy he'd raised. Trained. Made into a sharper weapon than his own sword.

His arms were broken beyond repair - or at least beyond the healing capabilities of non-ninja doctors. He was fairly certain one or two of his ribs were cracked. His legs had been taken out too with those needles lodged deep into his knees. Both his weapons, his sword and Haku, were out of reach.

Those weak hearted Konoha-nin weren't going to help him, Zabuza knew that much. Kakashi, whilst known to show surprising mercy to his enemies at times, wasn't about to trigger animosity between Kiri and Konoha by obstructing the hunter-nin in their mission for a man he had no huge reason to save. And that Gai character, whilst known to be somewhat eccentric, wasn't a complete fool either. Not even their genin were big enough fools - in fact, Zabuza got the impression that little pink haired girl wanted him to just die already.

(Now there was a minor regret, that he wouldn't live to see what kind of kunoichi she'd turn into. The fear in her eyes said she was going to be one of those ninja that burned out in a spectacular roar of flames but the fact she'd managed to land a blow on him in their first encounter spoke otherwise. Either way, with Kakashi Hatake as her teacher, it was unlikely she'd pass through the world unnoticed for long.)

No, no one was going to save him and he wasn't going to be able to run. There was no option to strike a deal with his would-be killers either, hunter-nin were not so easily swayed by their targets. Especially so in the Bloody Mist where there was a fate worse than death for those who did not carry out their missions perfectly. Besides, there was really quite little he could offer them in return for his life. He'd no information on the next coup he was raising money to fund or anything that would be of real value to Kiri.

Potentially he could try lying, but Zabuza had always been bad at that. It was the one part of his training in Kiri he'd always failed. He was a terrible liar, always too upfront with his words. The only person who had ever seemed to buy his lies was Haku, but that boy had actually been an adept liar at times so who really knew?

 _Haku._

His eyes lingered on the boy's form for a second too long and a needle was flicked at his shoulder, pain blossoming there. The thought of his imminent death caused unfamiliar fear to pass through him again as he glared up at the masked face staring him down.

He then thought of Haku again, the boy he'd picked up off the streets all those years ago, the boy who'd been by his side longer than anyone else, the boy who'd fought back tears the first time Zabuza had demanded he kill a wounded enemy (he'd killed them himself in the end, not knowing how to deal with this surge of pity for the child that was slowly forcing himself to raise blade to their enemy's throat for his _master_ ).

 _Screw it._

"I've never seen that guy before in my life."

He was a terrible liar so he had to get Kakashi to commiserate on his story, of which the man of course did because Konoha had always raised their ninja too soft, even in times of war. There was a moment when he'd thought the hunter-nin wouldn't buy it, that they'd looked closely at Haku's haori and realized how similar it was to the standard hunter-nin uniforms. But cooperation between enemy-nin was just too far-fetched an idea that they'd dismissed his clothing (their uniforms were designed to be unnoticeable amongst civilians when they removed their masks after all) and instead trusted Kakashi's word.

Zabuza's last thoughts weren't on Haku. Instead they were on the heat of battle as he lunged forwards, pointy teeth digging into one of the hunter-nin's legs. That they Demon of the Mist would go out fighting to the very end.

* * *

 **Edit: A few people were concerned about Gat** **ō getting away scot free because of Kakashi's reasoning as to why he and those around him specifically in that exact moment couldn't kill the man. So I added a couple of lines to relieve you guys :) But thanks for pointing it out anyway - had I not been planning to do something with that then you guys really would've saved me from doing something dumb haha**

 **THIS CHAPTER WAS A BITCH TO WRITE UUUUUUUUGGGGHHH**

 **(I wrote it out like 5 different ways and am still like "fuck this bullshit I cannot write for shit" uurrrrggghhhfffmmm just take it I give up for now)**

 **In my original (first out of many ugh) draft I actually had a very long conversation between Tazuna, team 7, Lee and Haku where they talked about the justification of killing people and whether murdering those that opposed you could be the 'right' choice if you looked at it from the right perspective. It was subsequently deleted so Kakashi could lament about how beautiful he was.**

 _ **You're welcome.**_

 **But I hope Kakashi and Gai letting Haku loose then restraining him again makes sense! They can't themselves kill/properly raise their hand against Gatō but Haku could. When he failed and almost died, they then removed him from the situation once more as him being alive is of greater importance that Gatō being taken out. This also kinda ties in again with Tazuna not being the mission's priority and therefore removing Gatō from the Land of Waves entirely isn't really their main concern either.**

 **I also hope Haku being an emotional mess makes sense? His literal reason for living just died, whilst he was unconscious only a few meters away. He wants to kill Gatō badly and at the same time finds killing people so heartbreaking for him (seriously maiming isn't the issue but ending a life oohh boy he got issues with that). He would've gone through with it had the mercenaries not tried to kill him just then but that moment's hesitation was enough to be deadly.**

 **Reviewer Question:**

 **You can only save one and they will subsequently be your companion through the ninja world so who do you choose: Zabuza or Haku?**

 **This might be controversial (although you guys tend to surprise me so perhaps not haha) but for sheer experience I'm going to say Zabuza. Sure, Haku is probably the best guy to have on your side during a fight and nicer in general, but Zabuza knows a lot of stuff and people. And information is** _ **good**_ **(one of the rare views Sakura and I actually share haha).**


	19. After rain

**Edited last chapter since a lot of people seemed concerned about this issue but the gist of it is: by no means is Gatō going to get scot free away from everything even if Kakashi** _ **'couldn't'**_ **kill him back there. I hear you guys that were concerned and I raise you a glass of 'don't worry, I gotcha'.**

 **Also apologies yet again to anyone I somehow missed out when doing replies! I'm just very disorganised OTL**

* * *

 _ **Ame futte chi katamaru**_

" _ **After the rain, earth hardens."**_

 _ **Adversity builds character**_

* * *

There was a couple of minutes after the last of Gatō's mob had left before we really did or decided anything. It was a strange place to be in, having faced a deadly situation only a few minutes beforehand and to now, by Kakashi's own admission, be in the clear. Adrenaline and chakra still thumping round my body but with nothing to direct it at. Victory did not taste sweet, it was instead awkward and sudden.

"Well then, first things first," Kakashi began, twisting round to glance at Gai before continuing. "Let's get off this death trap of a bridge."

Tazuna shot a withering look at the man, although, upon glancing at the crisscrossing trails of blood, weapons lying everywhere and hole blown into the bridge, seemed to think better of it and sighed. "I'm sure gonna have to do a hell of a lot of work thanks to you lot," he muttered, ruining the act of fake bitterness with a twitch of the lips.

Haku had to be carried off the bridge in Gai's arms whilst Naruto gladly offered me his shoulder, still pale from the rapid series of events earlier but fighting through it with a strained smile. Lee glanced over at the two of us more than once, seeming as though he really wanted to say something however deciding against it every time. "He's still weird," the blonde muttered with his suspicious squint as we avoided a pair of abandoned swords on the ground.

"But strong," Sasuke commented, frowning in thought. Naruto pulled a face, murmuring begrudgingly that he'd give the 'green weirdo' that but not much else.

The Demon Brother's body was still there when we eventually got off the bridge, moving slowly mostly due to my own team's injuries. Although he wasn't alone, a pair of men standing nearby the half-crushed corpse beneath the broken crate and pointing at the dead man in confused horror. Team Gai, that had basically taken on our job of protecting the civilians, got into battle ready stances, Sasuke starting to do the same before Tazuna suddenly spoke up. "Takeo! Hiroyuki!"

The first, a man in his forties, turned at the sound of his name, eyes growing wide. "Tazuna?! Oh my god, you're alive!" He rushed forwards, pulling the second, a male in his late twenties by the looks of it, behind him. Then, suddenly regaining awareness of his surroundings, slowed to a stop, staring at us Konoha-nin with an expression in between terror and wariness. "Who-"

"Allies. They saved my life." Naruto flinched at that, but his expression morphed from guilt to an awkward grin when Tazuna flicked him a grateful look. The man then twisted to look at Kakashi. "These two worked on the bridge for me."

" _Work_ ," the younger stranger corrected. "We were waiting for you to return before restarting construction, although everyone thought you were dead so…"

"We kept on checking on the supplies daily in hope though!" The second elbowed the first with a glare, turning back around with wide eyes again. "Anyway, we just saw Gatō with all his goons! And he was a big bloody mess too - what the _hell_ happened?"

Tazuna started saying something along the lines of 'it's a long story', but Kakashi cut in. "Did you see where they were taking him?"

The two men glanced at each other before answering. "Yeah, they were carting him onto one of those boats of his. Couldn't catch everything they were saying because we had to stay out of sight, but they were definitely muttering about taking him over to the Land of Fire. Something about not being able to trust the doctors here."

Kakashi and Gai shared a look. Although paranoid, I had to agree that Gatō's decision to seek medical attention in the Land of Fire was probably a good one. It would be too tempting to make one tiny mistake during the surgery, an error that could save your entire country were you to commit it. And I doubted the state of any medical facility would be satisfactory considering what a bad shape the Land of Waves was in. No, it was better to risk the journey than poor treatment and possible sabotage.

It was also incredibly lucky for us too. "Then we won't have to worry about any attacks before the chūnin team gets here," Kakashi announced and there was audible relief from our civilian clients plus Tazuna. Sasuke and Naruto even seemed to slightly relax, although immediately stiffened because they didn't want to seem weak in front of the other team. Tenten however had no inhibitions of that sort, letting out a happy sigh at the news.

The two men, Takeo and Hiroyuki, had the most extreme reactions out of everyone. "You mean- _oh my god_ , so there's a chance Gatō might…?!" Both broke out into bewildered, hopeful smiles. I couldn't help but wonder if I had that same look in my eyes when wanting someone dead and seeing that they might actually be.

Tazuna didn't return their joy at the same level however his lips curved into a tired smile, the seeds of hope dancing in his eyes like he'd only now allowed himself to entertain the idea of Gatō actually dying.

* * *

"Sorry about the state of things," Takeo, who I now knew as the older of the two men, apologized with a crooked smile whilst sliding open the door. "We've been out of business for a while so…"

Gai laughed boisterously as the rest of us filed into the semi-abandoned teahouse. "Do not worry, we Konoha-nin are used to spending the many nights of our missions out under the open sky so this is but a luxury for us!"

Tenten groaned as Lee clapped at his teacher's words. "Gai-sensei, you're going to make them think we're _barbaric_ ," she muttered, Ukihashi smiling behind her hand.

My eyes flicked to Yoyotose and Matsubito, the two now standing in the centre of the room amongst the dusty tables and chairs. There was a faint recollection of a conversation they'd had when doing my hair, that they'd wanted to work a teahouse of their own.

' _We were going to run it together and make you a god damn sauna room so you could stop complaining about things being cold.'_

The memory was uncomfortable with the fourth party to the conversation completely absent save for her fan that Matsubito held so tightly in long, thin fingers. I therefore pushed it quite forcibly out of my mind whilst Naruto helped set me down in one of the many chairs, my gaze going back to the two men, Takeo and Hiroyuki. They sure had changed their tune now that the threat of Gatō attacking had (possibly momentarily) vanished. Tazuna had been so certain of the townspeople's lack of desire to help us that I was inclined to believe him. Only now it was presumed 'safe' would they offer any assistance to those who had fought partially to protect the man building the last hope they'd had to break out of Gatō's rule.

Not that I blamed them for taking such a stance. I would've probably done the same in their position - _cowardice is thy name and oh so deep does it run._

Then again, I imagined the two men would've had a hard time refusing our request for shelter since Tazuna's house was out of action. The majority of us might've been 'children' but we were children with clothing soaked in blood and quite clearly carrying weapons. I think had I been a civilian I wouldn't have said no to that nightmare fuel either.

Team Gai save for Tenten were sent off to check the perimeter, a not unwelcome act since Gai had this _genius_ way of giving you constant headaches by being just too much in every aspect of his personality. Both him and Lee went off with declarations that they'd be back soon, Neji, on the other hand, leaving with what I suspected was his normal, somewhat broody silence. Sasuke, amusingly, seemed irritated by that.

"Right then." Kakashi clapped his hands together after Hiroyuki had returned with some bowls of water and towels. Our clients had been herded into another room where Takeo's wife was going to deal with their minor cuts and bruises. Tazuna, on the other hand, stayed with his two workers, papers laid out across one of the tables and muttering most likely about the bridge. Haku was still unconscious, having been tied to one of the pillars of the building and being watched over by Tenten with scroll already in hand. "Let's try and deal with our injuries now shall we?"

Naruto blinked, then met Sasuke's gaze and folded his arms. "Hmph, there's no need Kakashi-sensei, I feel absolutely _fine-_ "

Cue poke in the side and a high pitched yelp as he toppled over.

Sasuke snorted, lips curling into an amused smirk as our blonde teammate whined about how _cruel_ and _horrible_ our jōnin-sensei was. "You too Sasuke, don't think I can't see how you're hunching over slightly." A very undignified, un-Uchiha-like 'urk' followed that line.

Tenten raised an eyebrow as she slid onto the table beside me, my teammates shirtless and glowering at Kakashi, who clearly found this whole situation hilarious. "That Sasuke's kinda cute, isn't he?" She whispered behind her hand.

I must've made the most _disgusted_ face imaginable judging by how Tenten face went red in embarrassment, leaning back and waving her hands furiously. "Ah- no, I wasn't being serious _at all_ , it was just a little joke!" She trailed off with a somewhat nonplussed laugh, clearly having not expected the violent reaction on my part. She'd probably thought I'd either grin and agree or say 'ew' and laugh about how I so _wasn't_ attracted to Sasuke. Not shoot her a silent look of complete and utter disgust.

 _Well now_ **I** _feel like the asshole._

It didn't help realizing she probably felt awkward around almost everyone here now her teammates were gone. The beautiful women that were our clients would intimidate any ordinary person with how utterly ethereal their beauty was (especially Ukihashi). The only reason I could hold a conversation with them was because I did not care at all about how I looked. I got the impression Tenten was a tomboyish type of girl although even then she would have a healthy awareness of her own appearance.

Tazuna and his two workers didn't exactly seem to be the most thrilling company either and, whilst I supposed she could have tried initiating a conversation with my other teammates, she'd probably tried to find common ground with the only other kunoichi around.

I ventured a smile, now certain I _was_ the asshole. There was no reason to antagonize Tenten - she was a nice girl and, from a completely objective standpoint, a skilled ninja with useful abilities. Tenten looked immensely relieved by my new expression, shooting back a sheepish smile of her own. Luckily, considering how I wasn't exactly the best conversation material with my exhaustion and wounds, Kakashi finished with Sasuke and Naruto and moved over to examine my own injuries.

Modesty when injured wasn't exactly an issue of mine, however, the only wounds I'd sustained to my chest and upper back were minor scratch wounds and burns from sliding across concrete, so I didn't really need Kakashi's 'expert opinion' on those. Removing the needles in my side had been a painful affair but far less so than the stick of metal in my shoulder. I'd practically _hissed_ in Kakashi's face when he'd yanked it out, legs jerking up to almost kick him in an involuntary reaction to the sudden sharp pain.

"That's probably the worst of all your injuries," he informed me as though I'd be pleased to hear it, chucking the final needle onto the small pile forming on one of the tables. "It hit a pressure point so you'll probably have difficulty moving your arm for a while. Back to your lovely sling it is."

I glared at him, gritting my teeth through the pain. " _Wonderful."_

"A medic-nin is coming with the chūnin team so I'll get them to check your shoulder out again when they get here," Kakashi continued, hitting my head lightly in response. "Most likely they won't be able to do much for you though and you'll have to wait to get it thoroughly checked over back in Konoha."

"I can't _wait_."

"Yet the beauty of it is that you have to."

Had he not been Kakashi Hatake, I might've tried to kick him again.

* * *

I woke up to the sudden change in temperature.

It was so subtle that in my groggy state I was surprised I'd even noticed it in my sleep, especially since I wasn't exactly used to the environment I was in. Then I realized it was less the temperature change, more the chakra that had seeped into the dreams I didn't remember at this point.

A hand slapped over my mouth and, in my panic, I very almost decked Sasuke in the face, the Uchiha just about catching my arm and putting his finger over his lips in the universal sign for 'quiet'. He did at the very least seem somewhat flustered by my reaction, as though he hadn't really thought through what he was doing. Shooting a less than friendly look at him, I followed his lead in peeking over the side of the table we'd both been sleeping behind, Naruto snoring quietly on our other side.

Upon seeing Kakashi and Gai, I half just wanted to go back to sleep because if something was happening then they sure as hell could handle it themselves. Then I saw Haku, who was very much awake.

 _Shit._

"This is no mercy." Haku's voice had the same tone as that of a sob, raw and uncomfortable to hear. Chakra was swirling around him, potent enough so that I could sense it, but it didn't seem to be for the purpose of attacking the two jōnin. Instead, I thought it far more likely to be a simple physical reaction to his grief. "Please, I'm begging you, just _kill me._ "

The only light in the room came from a single candle placed on the table Kakashi was sitting at, although Gai's expression was easy to read despite this. Pity with hints of disappointment. "You are still young. Why do you not value your life more highly?"

Haku shook his head, some strands of hair sticking to his skin as he scrunched his eyes up shut. "I do not _care_ for my life. My only reason for living was Zabuza-san and now- now he is _gone,_ I can't- I have no reason to live anymore in this world!" He was on the verge of tears, face twisted and contorted in his misery.

"Zabuza saved you." Kakashi, whose face I couldn't see from this angle, spoke bluntly, though not without the usual subtle shades of kindness and understanding. Haku flinched at his words, eyes flying wide open in teary confusion. "He lied to the hunter-nin so they wouldn't kill you too. Therefore, he's still your reason for living." Then Kakashi's voice dropped to one that was colder. "Do not _spit_ on the one life a man, who killed his entire life, saved."

Gai glanced over at his fellow Konoha-nin with furrowed brows, arms crossed and empathizing in a way one could only do with someone incredibly close to you. Haku, on the other hand, was the perfect image of disbelief, choking on his words. "No- no I...I was just his _tool_ and I even failed at that so he wouldn't- Zabuza-san _wouldn't_ -"

"That man did not think of a tool." Gai closed his eyes. "He called you weak and soft-hearted. Those are not words you would use to describe a weapon, they are words for a human being. As someone who has exchanged blows with the man named Zabuza Momochi, I can tell you for certain he lied to save you for those same human qualities."

My attention was snatched from the wretched noises spilling from Haku's lips at the sound of poorly concealed movement. Sasuke stiffened beside me but, whilst Kakashi and Gai seemed to notice it also, the two didn't do anything about it, relaxing me. _Can't be a big threat then._ "But I do not know how to live without him. I _can't_ live in this world without him. Zabuza-san, he was, he _is…!_ "

"You must live through the pain for his sake."

Matsubito's blonde hair was like a halo in the darkness. Her voice had a similar quality to that of Haku's rambling, sobbing one, although it persisted through the shaking, forcing each word out of her throat with determined resolution. The fan that made me recall memories I wished I could forget was there in her hand as per usual, but with a grip less tight than normal. As she stumbled closer to the light, I could see her face was still marred with misery, pretty eyes red and dark bags underneath them. There was something in her red eyes when she gazed at Haku's shaking form; a sense of a companionship of a sort.

Kakashi stood up and raised his arm, barring the woman's path to the boy. In that moment, Matsubito looked at the jōnin as though she was one tiny push away from shattering into pieces and breaking down into loud, heartbroken sobs. "Please, he's just a child who has lost someone he loved."

"He's not just a child."

It was true. Haku wasn't just a heartbroken child, he was a deadly force of nature that was currently incredibly unstable.

Kakashi sounded like he was remembering something whilst saying that and his expression must have been quite something because Gai seemed momentarily alarmed, eyes widening. They then flashed with something unreadable and he crossed the distance over to his fellow jōnin. Lifting his hand, he pushed Kakashi's arm away, nodding at Matsubito.

The blonde woman scrambled forwards, dropping to her knees in front of Haku and hugging him in such a way that her arms cradled his head gently. There were a few seconds of confusion and tensed muscles before he caved in, crying muffled by his head buried in Matsubito's shoulder.

"Wouldn't you have wanted that back then?" Gai asked in a voice that seemed too soft to belong in his throat.

There was a pause before Kakashi answered, the man twisting around so his face could be seen by Sasuke and I. We ducked back down behind the table despite the fact I was sure we both knew Kakashi was aware we'd been listening in. I met Sasuke's gaze briefly, his lips pressed into an uncomfortable line and air around the two of us unbearably awkward. Suddenly, I wished Naruto was awake to break the tension with something stupid.

When our teacher finally did answer, he sounded tired. "...Perhaps you're right."

A muted laugh. "I often am, Kakashi, I often am."

* * *

Neither Sasuke or I talked about what we'd witnessed the next morning. Kakashi didn't bring it up with us either so it was possible to push the memory away as an incredibly realistic dream - or at least it almost was until I saw Matsubito sat nearby Haku and engaging him in a very one-sided conversation with the help of her girlfriend Yoyotose.

The boy seemed somewhat overwhelmed by the comfort forced upon him by the women, however, it had to be doing something good for him seeing as how he wasn't just a complete mess of ugly crying and begs for us to kill him. Of course, misery still clung to him like a shadow. The wound of Zabuza's death wasn't going to heal overnight after all.

I tried not to dwell on how miserable Haku was though. Once we were back in Konoha and safe perhaps I'd attempt to reconcile the image of the boy driving a needle deep into my shoulder and the one of him sobbing into Matsubito's hug. Until then it was easier to keep the black and white labels of enemy and ally, and Haku most certainly was _not_ an ally.

It was coming up to noon when the chūnin team showed up. They were a squad of four, all neatly decked out in their trademarked green flak jackets with unfamiliar faces and intense irritation directed towards Gai. "He's a bloody idiot," the medic, a woman with a no-nonsense attitude, retorted whilst looking over my wounds, telling me almost the exact same as what Kakashi had but administering some pain relief in addition to that. "Naturally, I'm glad he got to you in time to help, but my god, he's an idiot."

Kakashi seemed adequately amused by the chūnin squad's lecture about why Gai's actions had been _entirely_ inappropriate and that demanding the details of another team's mission, especially that of an A-rank, would have landed him with severe punishment had he not saved the day in the end. Gai simply brushed the complaints off with a laugh, Tazuna asking loudly if all Konoha jōnin were as crazy as these two were.

The chūnin did eventually confirm what we already suspected though. Gatō had been spotted in the Land of Fire seeking drastic medical attention as a consequence of his wounds. With his injuries however, he would probably be in intensive care for at least a month and that meant none of his hired thugs were likely to try anything until that time period was over. You wouldn't do a job for a man that might die before he paid you after all.

Tazuna looked immensely relieved by the news when it was passed on. "We can do it in a month," he told us, eyes shut and seeming as though the weight of the world had finally been lifted from his shoulders. "It'll be a rush and everyone will probably have to work overtime because of the mess you made of it, brat, but damn if it's _doable_."

Kakashi and Gai also decided not even a couple of hours after the chūnin team had arrived that we were going to start to journey back to Konoha today. Staying any longer in the Land of Waves would be a waste of time considering the medic-nin had healed us up enough to make doing the trip at a civilian speed possible. Besides, the chūnin team were staying behind anyway to await new orders from Konoha with what to do about the situation. It was probable they'd be told to oversee the completion of the bridge whilst dealing with the damage done as a result of the fighting.

Konoha had already stuck its foot in the mess the country was in by sending us on a mission there, therefore, considering that we were likely to get more bonuses than losses by stationing a handful of ninja in the Land of Waves for a month or two, we might as well finish it.

Getting Haku back to Konoha as quickly as possible was also a priority considering the sort of information he might know about Kiri. Were it not so obvious that Gai couldn't possibly be that kind of a manipulative person, I might've thought of his allowance of Matsubito to hug the potentially dangerous Haku as a sly way of getting the boy to take a shine to Konoha. It was always easier when your prisoner was cooperative and that would've been a good way of pushing him into willingly telling the Leaf everything he knew.

(Then again, my paranoia persisted, perhaps Gai's rowdy personality was just a front and he was capable of doing such _cunning_ acts of manipulation all whilst seeming oh so innocent.)

Just before we left, Tazuna caught us by the door and bowed, deeply. "I cannot thank you enough for what you've done for me, for my daughter, my grandson, my _country._ "

Off to the side, Neji seemed far from impressed by the display, Tenten shooting him a withering glare. "We were simply doing our jobs," Kakashi replied.

Tazuna shook his head. "No, you didn't have to save me after what had happened to your friend. You should've by all accounts abandoned me for the trouble I'd caused you, however, you protected me anyway. The Land of Waves and this old man are forever in Konoha's debt." He then smiled, wiping at his slightly teary eyes. "We decided this morning what to call the bridge. 'The Great Kaiza Bridge'."

Naruto, who had been staring at the ground since Tazuna had mentioned us saving him, snapped his gaze upwards, mouth dropping open. "Hey, isn't that…?"

The older man nodded. "He might've died because he was our hero, but we won't forget what he did for us. Just like how I won't forget what you did for me."

"...That's a good- no, a _great_ name," Naruto declared in a quiet but heartfelt voice. Kakashi shot him a crinkly-eyed smile.

My teammate went fairly quiet as Tazuna said his final goodbyes (" _No hugs because I'm a sentimental old bastard and I swore to myself I wouldn't cry because of you ninja!_ "), not really talking again until we started moving.

"I...when ordinary people die, it's at the end of a long life when they'd all wrinkly and grey like the old man Hokage," he began, fumbling awkwardly over his words but demanding the patient attention of nearly everyone in earshot. "When a hero dies, it'll be when they're young and it'll be painful and awful and just _bad_ all round. _But,_ when a hero dies, they get a bridge." He finished somewhat quickly, as though he thought the words sounded better in his head and disliked the way they'd turned out once spoken aloud.

Naruto looked down at the ground, cheeks slightly red and fists clenched by his sides. "I think, after all that, that if it's the end-" his voice had lowered to something in between normal speaking level and a whisper, "-I wouldn't mind if I got a bridge for everyone to remember me by."

Gai, who had been holding onto the length of rope attached to Haku, who walked obediently behind him, pushed the rope into the unprepared Tenten's hands, clapping Naruto by the shoulders. "The power of youth shines strongly within you, young Naruto! Kakashi, would you allow me to take him on as my own student? The fire in his soul burns too brightly for me to ignore!"

Kakashi shrugged. "Sure, you can take him if you really want."

"Hey! Kakashi-sensei, I didn't agree to that!"

"Welcome to Team Gai, my dear boy!"

" _Kakashi-sensei, help!_ "

I watched on as our clients smiled and laughed at the spectacle more than they had done so in days. Tenten seemed merely exasperated as Naruto tried to escape from Gai's clutches whilst Sasuke smirked and Neji quietly scoffed at the whole affair. In that moment, aside from this swirling horror that Naruto had just confessed to being _okay_ with dying young if he was remembered by the world, I couldn't help but envy his ability to think such a way.

I would die a coward at the end of a life of trying to dodge bullets Naruto would run into head on. It was what I wanted, what I clamoured for.

And it was kind of sad.

* * *

Travelling with Gai and his team was an... _experience_ , to say the least.

An experience I could happily live without ever occurring again.

It was less aggravating than it was simply exhausting being around two green bundles of energy that had no obvious 'off' button. Even Naruto, who rarely tired and blazed with the fire of a hundred bright orange suns, eventually became worn out whilst they kept on going with no signs of stopping.

"Are they always like this?" Sasuke asked at one point, mildly disturbed by how Lee and Gai were still walking on their hands after the third hour of it. Tenten had simply covered her face and groaned, no longer able to salvage the image of her team being anything like normal. I sympathized with her in that vein, although doubted I was normal enough either to complain.

There was the plus though that we hardly had to do anything when setting up camp, green monstrosities whizzing around in some kind of race to see who could set up the two tents first. "Finally, we're being treated like the princesses we are," Yoyotose remarked jokingly, winking at Lee who flushed before shooting a blinding smile back.

"Do not hesitate to ask for anything! I, Rock Lee, am at your service, ma'am!" He saluted and that was all which was needed to cause our clients to become completely and utterly smitten with him.

Since I was injured the worst out of my teammates save for Kakashi (though he was used to pain so I discounted that), I didn't have to take any night or guarding shifts for a couple of nights. Neji clearly wrote me off as the weakest link of the team when my jōnin teacher had announced it and, whilst I felt an irrational bubble of irritation at his view of me, I decided it was probably for the best he set his sights on Sasuke instead. I didn't want to enter some sort of 'rivalry' with anyone. Sasuke encroaching that kind of territory before this whole mission had gone to hell had been enough. It didn't encourage me to become stronger and fight harder, it encouraged me to run away in the opposite direction faster.

After that first night however, Naruto tentatively joined in the one-sided chatter between Haku and Yoyotose and Matsubito. The blonde explained the reason in a couple of throw away sentences about how he'd talked a little with the boy during his guarding shift. Not much had been exchanged other than the direct question of 'why did you follow Zabuza' and, by the sounds of it, Haku hadn't let loose his sob story of a past quite yet. Just a few choice lines about how the dead man had given him a place in the world and choked back tears.

He was still asking questions despite having reached some sort of conclusion on his standing on heroes. At least this time I wasn't the one the questions were being directed towards.

* * *

It was the third night on our way back that I guarded Haku during the night for the first time. We were, despite our injuries, making good time on our journey and were expected to reach Konoha either late tomorrow or the day after that. Nothing like the prospect of spending more time with the insanity that was Gai made you walk that extra bit faster.

(That and the fact almost everyone wanted to put as much distance as we could between ourselves and the Land of Waves. There'd been too much bloodshed, fear and grief, and the further we were from the place the better.)

I had the enviable first shift, although no one really complained when I'd been handed it. Naruto and Sasuke because they didn't want to make team Gai or one another think they wanted the easy way out, Lee because he genuinely didn't want the easy way out, Tenten because she'd probably resigned herself to never getting the easy way out and Neji because he didn't seem to care what shift he'd be given. That or he did and I just didn't care enough to read his reaction properly.

I didn't like Neji like I hadn't liked Sasuke. The Uchiha was becoming more bearable recently, not so much a friend but not so much someone I took the effort to feel irritated by constantly. He was, I supposed, a co-worker. If you had co-workers who survived life and death situations with you and then sat by your side awkwardly during the aftermath.

Neji on the other hand only skirted the line of being a bearable presence simply due to not interacting with me unless absolutely necessary. He had no reason to seek out any conversation. As far as he was aware, I was the weak link on a team already weaker than his own and not a clan kid either (the Harunos weren't nearly famous enough to be recognized by name alone as a clan unless you had the registry of the clans that lived in Konoha out in front of you). He wasn't so much rude as he was uncaring of my presence, a little like he was with Naruto except he'd sometimes remark some scathing words if my teammate had said something he thought to be particularly stupid.

The typical attitude of a prodigy child, mixed in with his own unique issues on fate that lead to an extremely fatalistic point of view

I stretched my legs out, fire burning on my right side and Haku asleep in front of me. Fatalism was a philosophy I stood against entirely. Sure, I was willing to accept some kind of fate existed in this world where prophecies were thrown about casually and luck followed Naruto like a lost puppy. But I wasn't exactly going to just let it take me where it willed. And if I arrived in the same place by the end, well, at least I tried.

Neji's passive acceptance of where fate would drop him just riled against that all.

Haku's eyes suddenly being wide open startled me.

My good hand snapped to my weapon's pouch, fingers teasing the kunai out by the hilt before remembering he was tied up and couldn't hurt me, not now. His breathing was fast and sweat poured down his face as he twisted round to look at me.

 _A nightmare._

Haku licked his dry, cracked lips, pale skin having turned a light shade of pink. "What is Konoha like?" The question was blurted out and I stared at him until I realized he wasn't asking because he actually cared for the answer. It was like grabbing a book off the shelf and flicking furiously through the pages without checking if you actually enjoyed the subject it was on. Forcibly absorbing yourself in it so you forgot the feverish dream that had woken you.

I was a poor person to ask. Naruto would gladly ramble on about the village for hours, probably relating back to his dream of becoming Hokage mere seconds into the speech. He was a better choice than me by a long shot. It was also not my job to comfort the older boy, our prisoner.

( _Black and white,_ I reminded myself, _no greys in between._ )

"What's the weather like there? Warm?" Haku asked when I didn't answer, voice a little raw and desperate.

"...It's just like here." A somewhat stilted response. Haku took it gladly all the same.

"I suppose it makes sense since it's within the Land of Fire." A strained, breathless smile. "Where I come from it was always cold. I don't think I remember many days where it didn't snow. Does it ever snow in Konoha?"

"Sometimes." Not answering his questions felt like cruelty with no cause yet talking at length with him seemed just a bad idea altogether. So I tried for the middle ground. Nothing too detailed but not nothing at all.

"You experience all seasons there then." His eyes flickered to the fire, light making it seem as though tears were threatening to fall when they weren't. "It must be so pretty... I hear it's a big village?"

"It's the largest of the hidden villages," I recited the fact I'd heard over and over again in the Academy. Konoha was quite boastful of their large population. We might not be number one in military strength but the saying went that 'if you cut off one head, two more shall take its place'. As a village, we were practically unkillable since there was always, _always_ more people left than there were killed.

"Lively too. Warm, pretty and lively…" Haku closed his eyes briefly, breathing still uneven but slowing steadily. "Those women say it is a great place. That Konoha is nothing but kind to them. Benign." The fire caused his eyelashes to cast shadows over his cheeks before his eyes opened again. "Will Konoha be kind to me as well?"

That was a loaded question, intentionally so. _Will Konoha be kind? Is your village benevolent? Can you look me in the eye and say they will treat me fairly, as a prisoner, as a young boy?_

 _How true is the image your village projects to the masses?_

The fire crackled loudly as a hand rested lightly on my good shoulder, Kakashi having not been soundless in his approach and thus only making me flinch a little at the sudden touch. He patted his leg with his horrific orange book, smiling down at me. "Shift is over."

It clearly wasn't.

Even without a watch, I could tell it wasn't time to switch over yet, especially since it was Sasuke who had the next shift and not the jōnin. However, he was my superior and, as long as it wasn't going to hurt anyone, if he said the sky was purple then the sky was purple and my shift was over.

I was almost one hundred percent certain he was doing this because I'd been pegged as a flight risk - well, not so much pegged as openly admitted to conspiring to escape the village. So, of course, he would remove me from a situation where a prisoner of ours was asking loaded questions like whether my village was truly and honestly kind. Perhaps if it had been asked to Sasuke he wouldn't have done anything. Not because Kakashi cared less about my teammate but because the morality of his village wasn't a concern to the Uchiha. And Kakashi definitely wouldn't have intervened if it were Naruto. He'd already seen an ugly side of the villagers that refused to acknowledge him so a question like Haku's wasn't about to change his mind about Konoha.

Absent-mindedly, I internally admonished the man for thinking me so easily swayed. I may be somewhat weak psychologically with paranoia and anxiety that preyed on my thoughts, but whatever terror I had of Konoha wasn't going to suddenly be ignited by an enemy-nin just like that. No, my fear of the village had been accumulated over years of observing the place from the inside, not in a couple of seconds of listening to the questioning view of an outsider.

As I slipped into my sleeping bag, I heard Haku's voice, cracked yet softly strong. "I know you have no reason to honour this, but I have a favour to ask you, KakashiHatake…"

* * *

"It was so pretty though!"

I glanced over at Matsubito who was only half serious in her complaining, smiling over at Haku whose hair now swung loose an inch or so above his shoulders. Kakashi walked behind him, one hand holding onto the rope attached to the boy whilst the other held up his book. "I think it suits him," Yoyotose declared, winking at Haku and laughing when her girlfriend slapped her arm with a roll of the eyes.

"I agree, it's a rather fetching style," Ukihashi added her own thoughts on the boy's new haircut. She gained a tentative smile in response, Haku still carrying dark bags under his eyes although looking considerably lighter. He wasn't completely better, maybe he wouldn't ever be, but it was as though his long hair had been a weight pulling him down that, once cut, had lessened.

"But it was _so pretty_ …" Matsubito sighed wistfully. "Orihae, you've got to let me do your hair to make up for it now." The long, dark haired girl made an annoyed noise of defeat at the prospect, lips quirking up into a smile despite this. "And let me do your hair again too, Sakura!"

Ukihashi looked amused by how I'd been caught eavesdropping on the conversation, then arched her eyebrow, causing me to turn around and suddenly see Lee there. "It's nice weather isn't it, Sakura-san?" He asked in a slightly too loud voice, although I'd come to see that as his normal speaking level.

I flicked my gaze up to the sky, clouds beginning to accumulate and starting to look worryingly grey. "...Beautiful."

Lee beamed, somehow avoiding the dripping sarcasm in a way that reminded me of my time in the Academy. "I was wondering, would you do me the honour of a spar?"

The look at my sling was a little more obvious.

"Of course, not right now!" He waved his hands in front of him, eager to correct the misunderstanding. "It's just I've been thinking about that kick of yours on that bridge - which was _incredibly admirable_ \- and if you were interested then I'd be more than happy to be a sparring partner of yours!" Lee pumped a fist dangerously close to my face.

I killed the reflexive response of 'no' instantly. Lee was a practitioner of the strong fist style, a style I was finding myself increasingly interested by. Whilst the gentle fist took down opponents by killing their ability to use chakra, the strong fist took down opponents by killing their ability to use their limbs. By breaking and smashing bones.

 _That_ I knew I could do.

I didn't really want to take on the style entirely. The strong fist was too 'rigid' a style, based around delivering powerful, knock out blows when able and either dodging simply or blocking the attacks of opponents. I, on the other hand, used my flexibility as much as possible during fights since that was what I'd learnt to do in my spars against Ino during the Academy. The style simply wasn't that 'perfect fit', however, there was so much I could take from it that wasting the opportunity to pick things up from one of the few users of it was _idiotic._

Besides, even if I wasn't interested in the style, I needed more fighting experience. The best fighters weren't those that had mastered specific styles by training the forms day in and day out. The best fighters were those that had been in real fights numerous times and knew how to react to anything because of it. And Lee was skilled enough to provide me with that experience, despite the definite pain it was going to bring.

 _Then again, I doubt he'll be able to one up the number done on my shoulder._

I plastered one of my 'client smiles' on my lips that Naruto would've squinted suspiciously at. "Sure, I'd love to spar one time."

Lee's face lit up, eyes shining with excitement. " _Great_! I look very much forward to it!" He then leant to the side to shoot a thumbs up at our clients. I twisted round to see Ukihashi shaking her head with a smile, Orihae looking fondly embarrassed, Matsubito shooting a thumbs up back and Yoyotose barely trying to smother her cackling laughter. Haku looked mildly confused amongst it all. Kakashi was still reading.

* * *

The closer we got to Konoha, the more relieved I felt, but it was only when I caught sight of the great opening gates to the village that I let go of almost all the rest of the tension in my body and mind.

"Home sweet home," Kakashi remarked dryly as Haku stared in awe at the huge gates, apprehension mixing into his expression. Matsubito then rested her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him, untwisting the dread in his face. It was just as well since we hadn't even taken a step into the village when a small group suddenly flickered into existence in front of us, all masked save one.

"We'll take it from here, Hatake, Gai." Ibiki stepped out in front of the ANBU members, arms folded and gaze latching onto Haku. I'd flinched hard at their arrival but no one seemed to notice, more focused on the new arrivals and our prisoner. Matsubito glanced anxiously at the T&I member, hand still on Haku's shoulder, however, Yoyotose seemed to have more of a grasp on the situation and gently pulled her girlfriend away.

Kakashi handed the rope attached to Haku over to Ibiki. "They're all yours."

Ibiki gave a tight nod, eyes briefly snapping to Ukihashi and tilting his head in acknowledgement of having seen her. The woman's lips tugged into a small, polite smile. I guessed they knew each other because of the scheme that trained kunoichi in the art of seduction, unable to grasp at any logical possible alternatives.

Matsubito raised her voice. "We'll see you again, won't we?"

Haku blinked, Ibiki watching on with a neutral expression as the boy's lips then curved into a soft smile. "I think I'd like to. Thank you." He closed his eyes and there was a swirl of leaves as the group vanished.

I heard Naruto's poor attempt at whispering the question as to where Haku had been taken from the back of the group, Kakashi replying simply 'T&I'. There was a noise of recognition, then a concerned look that burned into my back. I tried not to think about why Naruto was gazing at me like that ( _the threat that might not even have been made_ ). Instead, I watched as our clients huddled a little closer together, staring at the spot Haku had been last.

He wouldn't be locked up for that long, I predicted. As soon as they'd ascertained he wasn't going to be a threat to Konoha (or _made_ it so with a little reshaping of the mind), they'd put him to work. Haku had a kekkei genkai for crying out loud! No one in their right mind would let that sort of power slip through their fingers by leaving him to rot in a cell.

Anyway, the only meaningful bond Haku had to anyone now Zabuza was dead was with a group of prostitutes loyal enough to Konoha to teach kunoichi their ways. I suspected he wouldn't need much of a push to fight on Konoha's behalf at all.

Technically, we were meant to go through the checkpoint with our clients and procure ID for them, but no one stopped us when we didn't. Whether that was because we were travelling with the tricksy Kakashi Hatake and the overwhelming Might Gai, or because they'd heard about our mission and deemed the procedure unnecessary, I didn't know or care. Now we were inside Konoha, I just wanted to rest in my own room where there was no need for night watch shifts since no one was going to try and attack me. And the sooner I could do that, the better.

" _Gai!_ "

We were just outside the Hokage's tower when a man shouted out to the jōnin. Gai turned round and beamed. "Kotetsu, what is it I can do for you?"

Kotetsu, the familiar looking chūnin with his bandaged over his nose, looked just as pleased with the green man as the chūnin squad back in the Land of Waves had. "Well, for starters, you can hand over that package that was meant to arrive more than a week ago. I was the one who had to deal with _your_ client when they started getting pissed off at how late you were."

Gai laughed as Tenten groaned, muttering under her breath about how they were always pissing off clients and fellow Konoha-nin. "Sorry, we had to assist my eternal rival and his team in their time of need!"

"Yeah, and where were you in _my_ time of need when I had to say I had no idea where her package was?"

"This is fun and all but I think the rest of us are going to go on ahead," Kakashi declared, waggling his fingers in farewell as he indicated for our clients and my team to keep on walking. Tenten shot a silent plea for help at us all that was wholly ignored in favour of removing ourselves from the situation, Lee shouting his goodbyes loudly.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. "I think I've seen enough green to last me a lifetime," he muttered. Sasuke nodded slowly.

Upon reaching the mission control base, Kakashi instructed us to wait at the back of the room, casually sauntering to the front of the line to the main desk that I could just about see the Hokage sitting behind. Another team was debriefing there already but only a few words were exchanged before Sarutobi rose and excused himself, a couple of chūnin following after him as he approached the rest of us.

"Take the women to one of the waiting rooms. Team seven, follow me," he ordered. The goodbyes from our clients were short and flung over their shoulders as they were herded away by one of the chūnin. The other came with us as we headed to one of the briefing/debriefing rooms meant for higher ranked missions. Ordinarily, I would have expected Naruto to be excited about being treated in such a way, but he seemed to be taking the whole affair a little more seriously. We had, after all, failed our initial mission as a direct result of his actions.

The room we ended up entering was without windows, a large chalkboard set up on one wall with chairs stacked in a corner. Sarutobi sat himself down behind a steel table bolted to the floor in the centre of the room. It was all grey, dark and foreboding. Suddenly, the tension I thought I'd rid myself of upon seeing the gates to Konoha returned full swing and I stared down hard at the tabletop instead of at our esteemed Hokage.

Once the chūnin Sarutobi had taken with him was poised and ready with his pen, Kakashi started the report. There wasn't too much he had to say. The squad back in the Land of Waves had already been in contact with Konoha and relayed practically everything about the mission. Despite this, it was a little surreal to listen to a recount of the most basic summary of events. Takasago's death was mentioned only once, with minimal emotion attached to the declaration of that fact. I had 'dispatched' of the Demon Brothers. _Dispatched,_ like it had been a clean, easy ordeal, not a desperate, fast paced, panicked blur of events.

The Hokage listened on with a mainly neutral expression whilst his chūnin scribe was unable to not glance at my teammates and I in restrained shock and horror at some of the things Kakashi had said we'd done. Not even ten or so years ago would such newly minted genin be sent on a mission consisting of dangers like this. And we'd made it out with only one casualty on our side.

Sarutobi paused for a moment after Kakashi had finished his summary, linking his fingers together and leaning his elbows on the tabletop. "Due to the correct assessment of his mission having been upgraded to an A-rank, I will require reports from all of you," he eventually told us. "However, considering your ranks and physical condition, I will not be requiring those reports immediately. You three shall instead return here tomorrow and complete the required paperwork then. That does not include you, Hatake."

Kakashi looked immensely betrayed.

"Payment will also be renegotiated with all parties involved." I was almost certain the women wouldn't be the ones coughing up money for an A-rank if that was what we were being paid. It hadn't been their fault after all that things had escalated to that point and we had technically failed our initial C-rank. Most likely they'd be paying something below a C-rank pay grade and the rest would be covered by Tazuna and his town. It wouldn't be demanded in upfront cash considering the Land of Waves was suffering from extreme poverty, but Konoha would get its money's worth in one form or another.

"Sasuke Uchiha, you are dismissed."

There was a moment before the boy did anything, waiting for our dismissal to be called out too only for it not to happen. His eyes went a little wide and he glanced at both Naruto and me, clearly bewildered. "I suggest getting checked out at the hospital when you've got a free moment," Kakashi told him in reaffirmation that he had been asked to leave. Sasuke stared at him, then, with a tightening of his jaw, spun on his heel and left.

I half expected for him to slam the door as he went.

"Take Naruto Uzumaki to my office," Sarutobi ordered the chūnin, the man ducking his head obediently and heading to the door.

"Follow me." He gestured to the blonde when he had a brief period of confusion much like Sasuke's, although, judging by the serious look on Kakashi and the Hokage's faces, this wasn't the prelude to a particularly nice chat for my teammate. Naruto shot me a quick smile of farewell and I suddenly wanted to ask him to stay so I wasn't alone with just Kakashi and the Hokage.

The door clicked shut.

Thoughts ran through my head fast, swirling and suffocating. _What had I done wrong? What had I done right? Why did they want to talk to me?_

Sarutobi regarded me quietly for a few seconds, reading the expression of poorly restrained terror I imagined was all across my face. "The bodies of the Demon Brothers have been recovered."

Some of the fear was replaced with confusion.

"They were listed in the bingo book," he continued." And, as you have been confirmed to have dispatched of them both-" cue a pointed look at Kakashi, who had left one of the Demon Brothers alive during our first encounter with them, "-there is a bounty sum that will be added to the paycheck of your mission."

Oh.

Konoha wasn't exactly entirely open about its views on bounties and bounty hunting since it would harm their 'nice' image if they expressed public acceptance of it. But, if the defeated enemy didn't have anything of value to the village and wasn't of particularly high rank, then we weren't entirely opposed to collecting the money.

I blinked.

 _Oh. I did that._

 _That...isn't normal._

They'd been chūnin ranked and I'd managed to kill both of the brothers. Granted, one of them had been heavily, heavily injured by Kakashi and they'd been separated when they worked best as a duo, but it still wasn't anything like a normal feat for a genin.

For the first time, I properly understood why they talked with such certainty that I was going to become a chūnin.

Sarutobi hung his gaze onto me for a few moments longer before he let his eyes slide shut and leaned back in his chair. "That will be all. Sakura Haruno, you are dismissed."

* * *

 **Fun fact about teahouses - that was what the places Geisha used to entertain used to be called. 'Post station prostitutes' were also a thing, being officially employed as maids or teahouse waitresses (not the place of Geishas but what we think of as something like cafes) but illegally working as prostitutes. Just a casual link to the girlfriends' dream of opening a teahouse.**

 **~THE MORE YOU KNOW~**

 **On Matsubito comforting Haku - any normal person wouldn't have wanted to get within a metre of the boy after seeing his attempt to kill Gatō. However, Matsubito, who is still wrapped in grief at the death of her dear friend Takasago that happened** _ **right before her eyes,**_ **isn't exactly acting like the most rational person around. All she sees is a boy who seems to be suffering from the same grief she is and wants to somehow connect with him as he** _ **understands**_ **what she's going through, and vice versa.**

 **Every now and then Naruto spouts off incredibly profound speeches in the canon. It's kind of disconcerting, but I guess that 'heroes get bridges' talk is my attempt at it haha. And Sakura's realization of her life goal being somewhat miserable isn't her abandoning it, just being more self-aware that what she's doing isn't going to make her happy. But the alternative of running head first into the bullets isn't much better either :/**

 **Not too fun a chapter but wanted to just get them back to Konoha and describe Haku's state of mind so that the fun can begin next chapter. And boi is it gonna be fun because we are coming up to my absolute favourite arc of the entire series :))))))**

 **Also Rock Lee is my son fiGHT ME**

* * *

 **Reviewer Question:**

 **Favourite arc in Naruto? (A more basic one for a kinda boring chapter lmao)**

 **Chūnin exams. Hands down my favourite arc in the entire series by a god damn mile. So much character development, super good fights, a backdrop of politics going on between villages - oh and more Shikamaru. What more could I ask for?**


	20. Nothing ventured

_**Koketsu ni irazunba koji wo ezu**_

" _ **If you do not enter the tiger's cave, you will not catch its cub."**_

 _ **Nothing ventured, nothing gained.**_

* * *

I got home around two or so hours after having been dismissed by the Hokage, arm no longer in a sling and practically fully functional. It had been a surprisingly short wait to be seen at the Konoha Hospital, which I put wholly down to Kakashi having quickly made the appointment before teleporting back to the Hokage's office. Apparently, when you had the great Copy-nin as your jōnin instructor, queues were beneath you.

In a way, it was somewhat amusing that the universe conspired so hard to make it so that Kakashi could get through things fast and yet he still somehow managed to turn up late to everything.

I flexed my arm experimentally, only experiencing a dull ache in my shoulder that could easily be attributed to stiffness. The medic attending to me hadn't even had to spend much time actually healing the injury, taking longer to marvel over the precision of the attack that had pierced right through a pressure point. They hadn't asked questions about who had inflicted the wound - medics knew better than to pry as they too had been trained as ninja most of the time - but they'd had more than enough material to chatter about just from observing my injury.

It would've been so useful to have been able to pick up some medical ninjutsu, I thought a little wistfully. Except I had more reasons as to why I couldn't become a medic-nin than I had had when I'd first discarded the idea. Beyond the fact that medics were too valuable to disappear and that I didn't want to have that kind of responsibility put on me as a healer, I didn't have the original Sakura's perfect chakra control.

Chakra manipulation? Yes, I had that on lockdown. But chakra control was slightly different to the phrase Kakashi had coined, even if they did have a lot of overlap. I wasn't really that efficient with my jutsus. Better than average, however, a medic-nin had to be more than better than average because one little slip in your control and your patient could be shot directly into a coma or worse.

If I was dead set on becoming a medic-nin I'd have to spend all my time on bettering my control and neglect my combat training. And that seemed like an absolutely awful idea, so I was forced to reject it entirely.

"Oh, Sakura!" Mebuki popped her head round the kitchen door, lips stretching into a wide, genuinely pleased smile. "I thought it might be you. Welcome home!"

I dropped my backpack by the stairs and ambled into the kitchen, blinking at the sight of the familiar ingredients laid out on the counter. Mebuki beamed, continuing to chop away at the fruit. "A friend of mine told me they'd spotted you going into the hospital so I thought I might make some anmitsu for you as a nice welcoming home thing."

It was then I noticed the concerned shade to her features. If she'd heard I'd been to the hospital then she had to be aware the mission hadn't gone too well. And it was entirely likely too that rumours had gone around about our mission - nothing too specific of course, probably just that a team in the Land of Waves had ran into some difficulty, but my mother had been trained as a ninja and wasn't stupid enough to not make the connection. However, it was because she had been brought up a ninja that she wasn't stating her worry outright.

Once you started worrying, fearing, it never ended. Because there was always another mission, always more danger, and the cogs that kept our village running would never stop, no matter how much you screamed at them. So you kept your chin up and welcomed your children home with a smile.

 _Shinobi are those who endure._

"My favourite," I replied, unable to not feel fond of the woman.

She paused in her chopping to wrap her arms around my shoulders and give me an affectionate squeeze that was a little tighter than her usual hugs, lips straining into a warm smile. "I know, sweetie, I know."

* * *

Naruto was suspended from active duty for an entire month.

I found it out from Iruka the next day when I went back to the Hokage's tower to fill out the paperwork as ordered. Technically, it should've been Kakashi delivering the news about my teammate since he was our jōnin-sensei, but he'd somehow managed when everyone wasn't looking to escape the building after having pulled an all-nighter for the Hokage and god knows when he'd bother to show up again. So Iruka had taken it upon himself to quietly let Sasuke and I know rather than leave it to Kakashi to tell us in a rather indiscreet, late fashion.

Sasuke had, unlike me, shown up bright and early to complete the paperwork and finished it all in record time. "He always was a good student," Iruka told me with a proud smile as he led me to an empty room where I could focus on completing the required documents. "Both you and him. Naruto on the other hand…" he sighed, a little more heavily than he did usually when Naruto had gotten into trouble. "Perhaps I should've expected something to go wrong like this," he mumbled, then blinked and smiled again, pushing the papers onto the table.

It was easy enough to complete considering we'd been drilled on how to fill out such paperwork over and over again in the Academy. I remembered how one teacher had made us all fill out an incident report on a disastrous prank of Naruto's in an attempt to embarrass him into never doing it again.

(It hadn't worked in the slightest.)

My thoughts therefore wandered as I worked through one of the easier portions where it was just a lot of signing and pencilling in the dates. Naruto's suspension of a month was technically rather lenient a punishment considering someone had died as a result of his actions. Although, I doubted the blonde would see it in such a light with how he'd have to put his beloved headband away, his only physical symbol of acknowledgment. I could practically see the miserable look on his face with his forehead bare and headband clutched tightly in his fingers.

I could understand the leniency of the punishment however. Naruto might've gotten someone killed, and a client at that, but there was another person that had screwed up along the line even more than he had to allow team seven to get sent on this mission in the first place. And that person would have more than just the loss of their job to worry about if my ideas about the information vacuum were correct.

The rest of our clients were also incredibly unlikely to have pressed for harsher punishment of Naruto too. They'd all made it clear on the mission that they did not bear a grudge against him for what had happened to Takasago. It was an admirable stance to take, to entirely forgive the main cause of the death of a friend, and so, when Iruka told me the Hokage had yesterday bowed his head to the women in gratitude, I wasn't surprised.

For women of supposedly loose morals, they had taken an incredibly high moral ground.

It was a good time if ever to be suspended though. Due to our mission having lasted over two weeks, Sasuke and I were unlikely to return to active duty for a week or so. It meant that we wouldn't be as affected by the lack of a third teammate. Sure, it'd still be an issue at one point, but not an issue for as long as otherwise.

Iruka went in and out of the room for the next couple of hours to check up on my progress. I took considerably longer than Sasuke but I suspected I had much more to write in my report than him with how I'd been in two more fights with the Demon Brothers. I also had to sign more things in order to get my bounty money. In the end, I was paid the sum of a low end A-rank/high end B-rank plus 270,000 ryō in bounty money.

Iruka's eyes bulged a little when he saw the figures and I realized he hadn't known I'd taken out the Demon Brothers. I wasn't really sure how much he was allowed to know since the mission didn't really demand any secrecy. If I had to take a guess, I'd assume Iruka had known we'd gone up against missing-nin but not that Kakashi hadn't been the main attacker and us the backup the entire time. Naruto would probably correct that gap in his knowledge soon enough, having not done so earlier due to his misery at the suspension. The blonde wasn't exactly discreet about things after all.

My ex-teacher looked as though he wanted to say something when I finally finished up, chewing on his lower lip with a worried frown. However, he let it go with a loud exhale of breath and quiet smile. "I know it sounds cheesy, but I still consider you one of my precious students. So, if you ever need to talk to someone, I'll always be happy to be that person."

He really was kind, that Iruka. The Academy curriculum might've been filled with propaganda and concepts horrifying to an outsider, yet Iruka was nothing but genuine in his love for his pupils. There was no real wonder therefore that Naruto had labelled him as a hero.

I gave him an awkward smile in response, knowing I was unlikely to ever let him be that person.

* * *

 _Water crashing over my head, ears ringing from the explosion, plummeting down,_ _ **don't fight it, he'll see you if you break for the surface**_ _, wait for the moment to strike, lungs burning, not yet,_ _ **not yet**_ _, it all depends on me, if I don't get him out I will die, I need air but I have to do this,_ _ **now!**_

* * *

 _Ox-Snake-Ram_

It was considerably more difficult using the hiding in the mist technique without natural mist around to incorporate into the jutsu. I was currently standing on the lake in the third training ground, trying to use that water alongside attempting to expel the mist from my mouth but to little result. It was kind of like knowing the original song and being asked to sing it to a remix you'd never heard before. You knew it, you really did, but it was suddenly much faster and you stumbled along the way.

It didn't help much that I hadn't exactly _mastered_ the jutsu with the help of the natural mist either. So really, it was like singing a song you barely knew to the remix.

I wanted to add the jutsu properly to my small arsenal of techniques however. Kakashi might've taught me it with only using it in the context of Zabuza's mastered version in mind, but it was a useful jutsu. Just a C-rank, so not too taxing on my chakra reserves, and incredibly versatile in its uses. Granted, I'd probably need to work on my sensory skills since not even the user could see through the mist, but it would be great in escaping from the enemy and hiding what my allies and I were going to do next.

Letting the pitifully thin screen of white air drop, I walked back to the edge of the lake, the chakra I'd concentrated at my feet sliding back around my body so it was pretty evenly spread out. My gaze swept over the surroundings again. Sasuke still hadn't arrived, which was suspicious since he always got to our meeting spots bang on time. The idea brought up foul memories of being escorted to the Hokage's office by Kakashi and crying my eyes out in terror and anguish. Although, Kakashi hadn't turned up on time either, soothing my anxiousness somewhat.

I pushed the thoughts down, instead choosing to focus on my chakra. In the seven days that had passed, I hadn't really done much training at all aside from the usual exercise routines and stretches I could do in the comfort of my own bedroom. Even if all of my physical injuries had been healed, I'd just been so drained that all I'd wanted to do was sleep. It was why I'd gone in so late to the Hokage's tower that day, having slept for practically the entire morning.

(The fact half my dreams were awful memories of the mission which made me wake up feeling ill and more tired than before I'd gone to sleep didn't help much either.)

So I hadn't, until now, allowed myself to think about re-creating the chakra 'bubble' that had engulfed me both when Takasago had been killed and in my brief fight with Haku.

I shut my eyes, concentrating entirely on my own chakra. It was sliding and slipping over and under my skin as per usual, maintaining the normal equilibrium around my body. During those two moments where I had created the bubble, my chakra had been fluctuating and panicking as a direct consequence of my own fear. It had been entirely instinctive; I'd been unable to think about it beforehand or control it. Therefore doing it with conscious thought as quickly as I had done it then was too hard.

Slowly, I started pushing my chakra away. It inched outwards, like I was blowing up a balloon but could only breathe small puffs of air into it each time. Except there was no balloon keeping the air inside and the chakra at the edge of the growing bubble fluctuated and vibrated.

 _Slowly, slowly._

The further my chakra got from my skin, the less control I had, and the outer edge of the small bubble shook more. But I kept on going, gently pressing it away.

 _Perhaps add more…?_

The familiar sensation of the air becoming marginally more difficult to breath in convinced me I was going down the right path. Adding more chakra seemed to make the shaking lessen too, stabilizing the bubble so that I didn't have to concentrate so much in keeping its shape-

"Well, you've been rather busy, haven't you?"

I hadn't noticed the new, familiar chakra due to being so focused and my eyes snapped open to see Kakashi standing a few meters away, gazing at the air around me in mild interest. The bubble was still holding most of its form and it was, like those previous times, faintly visible. Some of the outer layers had been lost though as a result of my break in concentration.

Realizing Kakashi was waiting for a response, I shrugged, not really knowing whether it was an explanation he wanted or if I could give him one if that were the case. "Busy suggests I'm doing a lot in a short amount of time, and I wouldn't exactly call the time spent waiting for you 'short'."

He looked offended. "I was late because my cat threw up and I had to take it to the vet."

"I thought you had dogs?"

"Yes, they threw up too."

Were Naruto here, this would be the moment where he started screeching that Kakashi was an awful liar. Instead of doing that, I allowed all the chakra in the bubble to disperse. "I'm guessing this isn't a team meeting?"

"Very observant," Kakashi drawled in a tone where you couldn't tell if he was being genuine or not. I heavily suspected it was the latter. It then dropped to something more serious. "I'm owed a chat with you. About what happened on the mission."

Amongst all the panic, fighting, exhaustion and sleep, I'd completely forgotten about the compromise we'd made. That I didn't have to go speak to a counsellor but would speak to Kakashi.

I nodded, hesitantly, resisting the urge to pull my hood up as a futile barrier to what was about to come. Kakashi stepped to the side and sat himself down on a large rock, fingers laced together and pose relaxed. Unthreatening. "Tell me about your fights with the Demon Brothers."

"Didn't you read my report?"

"Yes, although it wasn't nearly as engaging a read as Naruto's," he answered.

"Then I don't know what to say beyond that about what happened," I told him honestly, not looking him in the eyes. The report might've been clinical and lacking in emotion, but I had not lied in it.

Kakashi paused for a moment before continuing. "Did they say anything to you during the fights?"

 _I'll kill you!_

"General threats and insults."

"Take any to heart?"

"No." Truthful again. I could remember their yelling but at the time it might as well have been white noise, thoughts and hastily thrown together plans louder in my head.

"Do you regret killing them?"

"No."

"Why not?"

I shifted my feet a little. "If I hadn't killed them, they would have killed me." I meant it. I didn't regret killing them. I regretted being in the situation that had led to me killing them, but not the actual act. And, if the options were between me living and them, I'd choose myself every single time.

"Then, were it your choice, would you have killed Haku on the bridge?"

That made me hesitate. "...Probably." My gaze flicked up to meet Kakashi's finally. He didn't look judgemental of my answer, more contemplative, and with that spark of nostalgia in his stare.

"It's good you can rationalize killing so quickly, however, just because you can view it as an option, doesn't mean it always is the best option to choose."

A sour taste rose in my mouth. "I _know_ that." I did, I honestly did, I just- it was hard to not want to put the blade to one of the sources of my fear and rid myself of it in the most permanent way I knew.

"Of course you do," he spoke genuinely. "I don't believe you're a complete idiot, Sakura, although you make numerous questionable choices." I cringed a little at the backhanded compliment.

"You didn't try to kill Haku after it was decided we'd take him capture so you can clearly rationalize things through yourself to an extent. However, sometimes, even when you know an idea is terrible, getting affirmation it is terrible from someone else helps more. Your teammates and I aren't just there to stand around and look pretty - although, I do that regardless." He smiled at how my own lips twitched at the comment, then it dropped as he continued on. "We are here to help and work with you. So, if you feel something strongly, do not allow it to ruminate, like you have let your fear do."

The casual accusation stung a little but it was entirely true so I swallowed it down, gaze swinging to the ground again. Being trapped in your own mind wasn't healthy. I was aware it wasn't good, aware that all those years of being stuck with only saying what I truly thought in the limited space of my own head had made me a bitter, fearful individual who'd made more and more stupid choices as the emotions had piled up.

However, just because I knew it was bad, it didn't mean I was going to stop doing it. At least, not entirely, not ever, out of ingrained habit and secrets that could never pass through my lips.

But there were some things I could say, even if only to Kakashi. Some things that didn't need to be locked up in the recesses of my mind and left to rot into something foul.

"Well then, I think that's enough for today," I glanced up to see him shooting me a crinkly eyed smile. "Shall we get something to eat? It'll be my treat, even though with the money you got it should be yours." He spoke as though it was with great pain he agreed to such a thing.

I nodded, deciding then and there I was going to order the most expensive thing off the menu in whatever place we went to.

* * *

Sasuke being at the meeting point the next day was something of a relief to see as I approached the bridge. He noticed me drawing near and, despite having expected it, the guarded, mildly belligerent look he shot my way made me want to sigh bitterly, relief squashed to pieces underneath the annoyance. Whatever progress that had happened on the Wave mission seemed to have backpedalled fast after what had occurred in the Hokage's tower on the day of our return.

I'd only recently gotten used to life without constant death glares and the easy shattering of the careful balance we'd managed to find was frustrating. I wasn't looking to be best friends with Sasuke, god, not at all, but if we could just manage to be _amiable_ with one another…

I leant against the railing opposite him, hoping against all hope that Kakashi would turn up soon. The silence was depressingly awkward and stifling and I had another of those fits of insanity where I wished Naruto would turn up to break through the quiet with something entirely stupid. That in turn reminded me of the last time I'd wished for that and the memory of Haku's muffled sobs and hiding behind that table with Sasuke, both not speaking then either, twisted over and over again in my mind.

The sound of feet scuffing against the ground made me look up again to see that Sasuke was staring at me, mouth twisting uncomfortably and gaze a little lighter. He seemed to be deliberating on something and it took a few moments before he finally spoke. "Why did you have to stay behind?"

Surprise didn't really cover it.

Because for Sasuke to straight up ask me that meant vocal confirmation that what had happened bothered him. That _me_ being ordered to stay behind to talk with the Hokage bothered him. It was a sort of acknowledgement that I was strong enough to make him feel I was getting ahead of him, one upping him.

My secondary reaction to the complete surprise was the urge to lie, lie, lie. It would solve nothing, I knew, but telling the truth meant directly admitting to Sasuke that I wasn't normal. Even if he was all but certain I wasn't and what I was about to say wouldn't change what opinion he had of me, I didn't want to validate it for him. I'd spent years trying to be average and whilst my plan might've been ruined - or, more accurately, doomed from the very start - that feeling of dread still twisted my insides.

Yet, again, it would solve nothing if I lied. Really, it was more likely to make things worse if I did. And there was the potential for Kakashi to be listening in on this conversation and he would be less than pleased if I lied now.

My fingers twitched as I suppressed the urge to throw my hood up, gaze not meeting Sasuke's whilst I squeezed the words out of my mouth. "The two men I killed had bounties," I told him simply, plainly. He already knew I'd killed on that mission. I hadn't been the one to tell him but the information had certainly been passed on before we reached Konoha since he hadn't reacted much when Kakashi had stated the killings in his report.

Sasuke didn't respond straight away. "...How much?" He sounded less accusatory and I briefly wondered what exactly he'd _thought_ was the reason I'd stayed behind with the Hokage.

"About 270, 000." It was more money than usual for a couple of C-ranked ninja but bounties took into account more than just your skill and the Demon Brothers had pissed off enough people for the reward to rise up.

Luckily, Sasuke seemed to take that factor into account and his eyes didn't bulge like Iruka's had when I glanced back at him. Instead, after a few moments of thought, they narrowed a little. "You…" He cut off, stuffing his hands in his pockets and levelling his gaze further before starting again. "I think I might like to fight you one day, Sakura."

I physically _balked_ at the idea.

Sasuke blinked at how my eyes had presumably gone wide and my face had contorted in utter horror as a result of what he'd just said. Then, his expression darkened a little and I scrambled to correct what he was thinking because _no, no this isn't me thinking of you as beneath me, fuck, this is the exact opposite and he wants to fight me, no, no, no!_ "You- you should set your sights _way_ higher than me." I struggled to get the words out of my mouth fast enough.

I was fine with Lee wanting to fight me. But there was a divide in my mind between Lee and Sasuke because Lee wasn't going to one day reach a point where he could kill me using only his _eyes._

Also, I was fairly certain there was a big difference between Lee's desire for a spar and Sasuke's want for a fight, the difference being far more internal bleeding.

The Uchiha was staring at me now with this sense of awkward bewilderment. I doubted many people would have the reaction I was having if Sasuke said the same words to them. Most people I could imagine he'd say this to were people that were cocky or, at the very least, self-assured in their own abilities. And, whilst I was finally beginning to grasp the concept of my strength truly lying within the chūnin range, Sasuke wasn't exactly your run of the mill genin either. In the canon he'd taken on the Demon Brothers too. Had he been the one to be thrown away in that explosion back in the Land of Waves, the result would've probably been the same.

So I don't really think Sasuke knew how to respond to me vehemently rejecting what was essentially praise of my strength.

There was another smothering blanket of silence with confusion and antipathy woven into the fabric of it.

"At least it's quieter without the idiot," Sasuke eventually said quietly, letting go of the previous conversation somewhat begrudgingly but letting go all the same.

There was a muted exhaling sound as I let out the breath I hadn't known I was holding. "I'm thankful for every moment of silence I have because of him," I muttered in agreement and Sasuke's lips tugged into a small smirk.

"Ah yes, the bonding over an absent teammate truly is heartwarming." The familiar chakra and voice made me look up in unison with Sasuke to see Kakashi waggling his fingers at us. I was almost entirely certain he'd heard our entire conversation but he showed no sign that he had, hopping down with his usual crinkly eyed smile. "Now, who's ready to take on some more D-ranks with your favourite jōnin-sensei?"

I have never seen somebody's face embody the emotion of 'no' more than Sasuke's did at that exact moment. That is, aside from the time Iruka told Shikamaru to put his heart and soul into his studies.

* * *

That night, I finally took out my bingo book and flicked it to one of the carefully annotated pages. Then, taking out a black marker pen, I proceeded to draw thick lines over the faces of the men I'd killed and the man I hadn't.

I stared down at Zabuza's crossed out face. It was a drawing, not a photo, but it had captured his likeness exceedingly well, all the way down to the sharpened teeth on the half of the face the artist had left free from bandages. On the other hand, it wasn't anything like the last images I held in my mind of the man with the emotionless look in his eyes in the picture.

 _One down,_ I thought, without the intense relief I had once imagined I'd feel at his death. Because Zabuza had only ever been the beginning of a downward spiral.

But, looking on the measly sliver of light that was the bright side, at least I hadn't fallen at the first hurdle and was one step closer to the finish line.

* * *

I sidestepped a small gaggle of kids racing through the streets with their paper shuriken and kunai, clearly playing at being ninja. I thought I saw Konohamaru within the crowd, blue scarf flying out behind him, and briefly wondered who the hell had let the kid make such a poor fashion choice in the first place.

It was like asking to be choked by an enemy-nin if you showed up to a fight wearing it.

I shifted my grip on the bag I was carrying. After a week or so of missions I'd finally managed to get to replacing the explosive tags that had been used in the Land of Waves. Technically, I still had enough at home to last me a while longer, but I'd been needing to get more kunai anyway. Besides, the timing had been good since Kizashi had just done a favour for the weapons shop I bought from and I'd gotten quite the discount as an act of thanks to my father.

There were perks indeed to being the daughter of a successful merchant.

Although I did need to do my own bit to keep the bonuses coming in with careful flattery and polite smiles, which were exceedingly difficult to do after missions with Kakashi.

"Ah, Sakura-chan!" A loud, exhaustingly familiar voice made me look up to see Naruto waving over at me on the other side of the street. Our gazes met and I swore under my breath because now I couldn't pretend I hadn't seen him.

 _And today had been so quiet too._

I made my way over to him, noting that he was stood in one of those outdoor market shops with racks of clothing in rows around him. The owner seemed to currently be in a haggling war with the woman I faintly recognised as Kiba's mother, Tsume, her dog having dozed off on the side as she argued furiously away.

My gaze darted back to Naruto who was smiling away, forehead predictably bare. "How have things been going?" He asked enthusiastically, although there was this tinge of anxiety and shame in his tone.

I shrugged. "As well as D-ranks with Kakashi-sensei can go."

Naruto nodded with sage-like understanding. There was relief there too that that was the extent I had to say about things, though I didn't know why he thought we could possibly be doing anything different. Two genin, even if I was thought of as chūnin, and a jōnin that certainly wouldn't be doing anything to help weren't really enough for a C-rank. And Kakashi had persisted in his reluctance to teach us anything else, which continued to frustrate Sasuke of whom I was once again skating on the thin ice of amiability with. I didn't particularly mind that we weren't learning anything new, however, as I already had my hands full with the hiding in the mist technique.

"At least you get to do missions though," Naruto then grumbled, folding his arms and huffing. "I have to just keep on doing boring errands for Iruka-sensei and then the old man keeps spouting all these gibberish riddles at me whenever he comes by. Although," he then acquiesced in a slightly quieter voice. "He makes a little bit of sense every now and then."

I blinked. "I thought you were suspended?"

My teammate flushed a bit in a mixture of embarrassment and humiliation, one hand coming up to touch his forehand self-consciously, but the reaction was more muted than I imagined it would be. "Yeah," he mumbled in confirmation before continuing in a louder tone. "Apparently Iruka-sensei was getting nervous about how quiet I was being and thought I was up to something so he started dragging me around instead."

That, I decided, made entirely too much sense.

"And I gotta get back soon too, which is a pain 'cuz I can't make up my mind." Naruto's face then lit up and he beamed at me. "Hey, hey, Sakura-chan, which one do you think is better?!"

Two jackets were suddenly shoved into my face and I leaned backwards reflexively. One of them was in white with this obnoxious pattern of red swirls and the other was a bright, blinding electric blue. "Neither," I answered bluntly, unable to not show the distaste in my expression. "Why?"

The offending articles of clothing were removed from my personal space, Naruto rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "A-ah, well, you know, back on the mission when I kinda blew up you said...a-and, like, I remember you said that same thing when we first met Kakashi-sensei and did those introductions so I guess…" He fumbled about with his words, gaze snapping down to his orange jacket and fidgeting with the end of the zip.

 _Oh_.

Realization crept up on me and there was an irritating sense of guilt that I didn't want to be feeling because I didn't regret what I'd said to Naruto about his orange outfit. It was dumb and recognisable and everything I wanted not to be.

"...Maybe try for something darker," I eventually suggested and Naruto snapped his head up with wide eyes.

His lips then stretched into a smile and he nodded. "I'll do that," he told me, smile widening into a grin. "Thanks, Sakura-chan."

* * *

I entered the fourth training ground with the acute feeling that I was not going to exit it in the condition I entered. It was a difficult sensation to swallow down, especially since I despised pain so much, but I needed this experience and passing up the opportunity would be a _huge_ mistake.

Taijutsu experts weren't really that common at all. The norm was to mix and match with the three types of jutsu, using both chakra and your own physical strength to overpower opponents. Kakashi was a perfect example of this blending all three into one's style of fighting even if he was more famed for his ninjutsu capabilities.

Chances were therefore that I was unlikely to meet another taijutsu expert who would be as willing as Lee was to spar with me and give helpful pointers on what I was doing wrong.

So this was an investment in lessening future pain, I told myself as I came into the main clearing of the training ground, finding team Gai almost immediately. Tenten, who had been spinning a staff around her body with this effortless ease, found my form just as quickly and blinked before shooting a friendly smile. "Hey, look, it's Sakura."

" _Sakura-san?!_ " Lee, who had been doing one-handed handstand pushups, immediately flipped to his feet, gaze snapping to me and beaming. Neji shot me a somewhat disdainful look as I approached although it was easily ignored in favour of Lee rushing at me with excitement practically oozing out of him. "It's so good to see you again, Sakura-san! I'm so glad you did not forget our promise to spar one another! Oh, and is your arm completely better now?"

The torrent of words made me blink rapidly, taking a second to properly register what he'd just said. "Lee, slow down a little would you?" Tenten smiled despite her exasperated sigh.

"My arm's much better, thanks," I told him and his whole face lit up. He was so easy to read it was kind of startling. We were ninja for crying out loud.

"That's great!" He enthused, tone completely genuine.

Neji scoffed, arms folded. "I don't know why you're so interested in sparring with a _rookie_ like this, Lee," he referred to me with total contempt. In that moment I was glad that Sasuke did not inherently look down on everyone he met. Were he to have held the same type of arrogance that Neji did then I doubted we'd have been able to reach the cordial terms we now had.

"You didn't see it though, Neji!" Lee spoke good-naturedly as if his teammate hadn't just slandered his choice in a sparring partner. "Sakura-san was incredible! One kick and the guy's arm was broken"

Neji looked like he didn't quite believe what has teammate was saying but said nothing more, instead folding his arms and casting another unimpressed glare at me. Tenten muttered something under her breath that sounded less than happy about the Hyūga's attitude but I got the impression she sided with Neji somewhat on her view of me not being the best person for Lee to spar against. It was less she thought of me as utterly beneath them like Neji did (because she clearly didn't having tried to be friendly with me), more a completely sensible assumption that I was of ordinary, newbie genin strength. From her point of view, she probably believed Lee was over exaggerating things a little - not an unfair conclusion as this was _Lee._

And, to be even fairer, I was aware I was unlikely to be a good sparring partner for Lee. This was for my own benefit entirely. I didn't expect him to get anything out of this at all. How could I after having seen him show Haku up so completely?

There was suddenly a loud 'poof' and smoke filled the clearing. "I see you're all living your youths to the fullest!" Gai was striking a pose as the smoke cleared, Lee raising his arm and yelling an affirmative as Tenten looked as though she'd resigned herself to her fate with a groan. Neji, having done the same years ago and being quite vocal about it, merely twitched slightly at the display.

Placing his hands on his hips, Gai grinned over at me. "So, you're ready for your sparring match?"

"Could I actually stretch first?" I asked in my 'client' voice, knowing that wasn't quite what Gai had been asking but wanting to get my request in at one point.

Gai smacked his fist into his palm. "Oh, what a good idea! Lee, twenty laps of the training grounds!"

"Yes, Gai-sensei!"

I slipped into my usual stretching routine as Lee sped off, purposefully ignoring the expressions of mild surprise on Neji and Tenten's faces. Really, I didn't need to stretch. Pulling muscles or getting cramps were rare occurrences for ninja as chakra just solved such situations entirely. However, I wanted to be warmed up and active from the very start of the spar. Lee was too good to take this anything less than seriously - not that I'd ever taken spars lightly. My fights against Ino had always been dead serious save for omitting 'dirty' moves like kicking up dirt to obscure your opponent's vision.

"Wow, you're flexible," Tenten remarked as I hugged my leg whilst doing the splits. She'd wandered a little closer to me, offering a smile. "Kinda makes me wish I'd kept all my stretching routines up from when I was younger."

I swung my other leg round so they were both in front of me and grabbed onto my feet, holding the position easily. "Keeping it up is the worst part," I told her, not being completely truthful as doing the stretches after I'd gotten out of bed every day was kind of like second nature now.

Tenten nodded. "I can imagine."

Lee finished his laps entirely too quickly, grinning away and ready to start. Neji, for all his clear disinterest in my fighting prowess, decided to stick around in the clearing with Tenten, leaning against a tree as Gai stood in between Lee and I. "I hope you're both looking forwards to this!" He declared, Lee nodding as I duly noted that the pain was going to start incredibly soon. _This is a mistake and a mistake that's really going to hurt._ "Don't worry about anything else and fight to your heart's content!"

"We're allowed to use ninjutsu?" I asked, having never been allowed to in the Academy.

Lee smiled at me with a tinge of awkwardness to it for once. "Ah, well, you can, Sakura-san, but I…"

"Lee is a splendid ninja despite his inability to use ninjutsu," Gai stated plainly. I didn't see Neji's face but I saw the glare Tenten shot him in response to it. Then I realized too late that I hadn't really reacted to what Gai had just said and Lee was regarding me with some surprise as a result. As a ninja, hearing someone couldn't use ninjutsu should've come as a horrific shock, but I'd known this from the start so it was difficult to be surprised without trying.

"Oh...okay," I said, hoping they'd write off my late reaction as absentmindedness or something along those lines when they probably wouldn't. I flicked my hood up over my head, getting into a ready stance in tandem with Lee.

Gai seemed pleased about something and nodded, crossing his arms. "Good, good. Right then, let's get to it!" Raising one arm, he sliced it through the air as a gesture for us to begin.

Lee sprang forwards immediately.

I threw myself to the side, barely dodging the powerful kick he sent my way. My hand flew to my kunai holster and I threw one just as I landed. Lee simply tilted his head to the side to avoid it but the purpose hadn't ever been to actually hit him. My foot flew through the air towards his head, having substituted just after the kunai had passed him by. He ducked and the kick sailed right over him, my body twisting around because of the force behind the attack. Lee slammed his hands into the ground and swung his legs up so his ankles barrelled towards me.

Spinning myself round more, I concentrated my chakra in my hands and wrists and formed a block. The power behind the attack was so great however that I went flying and felt the bruises forming regardless, feet skidding when I hit the ground. I'd only just put my arms down from the block when Lee suddenly was in front of me and punching forwards. He wasn't going full speed, I realized in the back of my mind, but he was still fast enough to hit my side and I gritted my teeth as I swung my right arm at the side of his neck. Lee ducked, again, although I'd already slammed my knee upwards and this time he had to block.

 _Dig in._

Despite the blunt physical form of my chakra around my knee, Lee was sent just a metre or so back from the force of the attack itself, however, he moved a little further away of his own accord. "That had good power behind it, Sakura-san," he told me with a firm, honest smile.

My side ached terribly.

 _Fuck. He's not even going seriously against me and I think that almost broke a rib._

He was going to win. Oh, there was no doubt in my mind that Lee would win. But this had never been about winning, even if there was this small part of me that wished it was possible for me to do so.

 _Experience. I need experience._

I breathed out slowly, ignoring the pain in my side and getting back into a ready stance. Lee's smile widened at this. "Ready, Sakura-san?"

 _Hell no._

"Yes."

* * *

 **UGH don't like this chapter entirely cuz didn't feel able to get to the bit I wanted after my first rewrite but I tried so accept my humble offering**

 **Anmitsu is a sorta fruity, summery dessert with fruit, ice cream and agar jelly. It's also one of canon Sakura's favourite foods FYI :)**

 **Also you guys. Some of you have the best fucking usernames I've ever seen and my emails are just a wild story from start to finish cuz of you guys and I love it**

 **Sasuke saying he wants to fight Sakura isn't anything close to the meaningful 'you're somebody I want to fight too' conversation between him and Naruto. It's more a sort of statement he'd throw at Lee or Neji. But it is him admitting that he thinks Sakura might be someone worth fighting with their current power levels. So I imagine if Lee or Neji had replied to Sasuke saying what he said to Sakura with her reaction "no, go find someone better to fight", he'd be hella confused.**

 **Sakura really is this intensely weird anomaly in Sasuke's life and he doesn't quite know how to handle it.**

 **Sakura also isn't suddenly best friends with either of her teammates. They're just on better terms with one another, which is what she wants because she's stuck with them for a while now so at the very least needs to get along with them to an extent.**

 **Lee is a bad opponent for Sakura as an expert in taijutsu and insanely fast. It doesn't matter if he's going easy on her, she's just going to have difficulty with him regardless.**

 **Next chapter though guys. Gonna be more fun and better that this one I promise**

 **Also kylnnin (guest): in response to your question I simply give you ;) (your memory is also incredible I salute you for remembering that haha)**

 **Reviewer Question:**

 **Who would you want as a sparring partner to gain experience from within the rookie nine plus team Gai?**

 **Tenten simply because she has the most experience with a range of weapons. I feel like I could learn a lot from her because of that :)**


	21. Forget the heat

**I wrote an extra for the first chapter you guys might want to check out! :) And apologies yet again if I didn't reply to your review! One day I'll be an organised human being but today is not that day**

* * *

 _ **Nodo mo to sugireba atsusa o wasureru**_

" _ **You forget the heat once it's down your throat."**_

 _ **No matter how terrible the hardship was, you will forget it once it's over.**_

* * *

" _Ha_!"

I rolled out of the way of a powerful downward kick, feet smacking hard into the ground at the end of the roll and having just a split second to stabilise myself before a fist flew at me. I swung my body backwards and the punch narrowly missed the tip of my nose, gaze drawn to the receding fist as I twisted the movement into a clumsy backflip.

Concentrating my chakra to my feet, I pushed it outwards and met a brief resistance when the attack managed to hit. Except it was a short lived victory at the realization Lee had already moved into a blocking stance, barely any damage sustained from the blow.

I kept on moving, flipping twice before landing and snapping my eyes to my opponent.

The fight was best described as consisting of short bursts of intense movement that died down as quickly as they came. Were it a real fight, I sincerely doubted it would proceed in such a manner, but Lee was being generous in allowing me to regain my bearings in these short periods of downtime. And I was grateful for it, honestly so.

I'd never really been in a fight that had lasted longer than ten minutes. That didn't mean I couldn't handle this sparring match stamina wise but it took some... _adjusting_ with how my mind and body were in a state of prolonged overdrive just to pretend I could keep up with Lee.

Although that was the point of sparring, to get experience of things you hadn't had before and learn what to improve on.

It was kind of unfair however to highlight my own flaws using this fight as a reference. Lee was probably the worst opponent I could get. I relied on my taijutsu backed up with chakra manipulation to ultimately overpower the enemy. He was a taijutsu _expert_ (or at least aiming to go down that route). As long as he had a general idea of what I was going to do, chakra manipulation or not, he had an idea of how to dodge or block it.

Really. Trying to play a taijutsu expert at their own game was the height of stupidity.

 _So, don't play the game._

Lee and I began to circle one another, slowly. Were this a real fight I would take my own advice in its entirety, but I was doing this for the taijutsu experience more than anything else. Besides, if this were a serious match, I would have gotten out of this clearing already and tried to slap an explosive tag on him (the likes of which I had left at home for that exact reason). Confined within the limits of a friendly match, my usual tactics that involved going directly for the kill without any inhibitions were severely restricted.

 _Think, think, think._

I was aware in the back of my mind that Neji, Tenten and Gai were watching the fight closely but my gaze was focused solely on Lee. He was smiling but his eyes were hardened with concentration. I hoped, vainly, that he was being even slightly pushed in this fight where he was so obviously going easy on me.

He kicked off the ground suddenly.

Flicking the kunai out of my holster and into my hand, I sliced diagonally upwards, trying to keep him at a distance with the attack at thin air. Lee spun in this display of something close to elegance, body moving fluidly around the wild swing. His hand shot out, gripping my wrist hard and forcing me to drop the kunai. I threw all my weight onto my caught arm, left leg flying off the ground and knee powering up towards his chin.

Lee simply chucked me over his head using his grip on my wrist.

My heels dug into the ground and I hurled shuriken behind me without looking, using them as a distraction to allow me to turn with the lessened chance of Lee being _right there._ I still expected it however so when it worked there was a split second of surprise then even more shock because I couldn't _see_ him-

 _Above!_

I stumbled back just in time but Lee moved faster, transitioning from a falling kick to a palm strike that hit directly underneath my chin. A bright wave of pain shot up my jaw and I hissed aloud, eyes tearing.

 _Fuck._

I almost fell, staggering back. In my attempt to steady myself, my foot nearly hit one of the kunai I'd used earlier in the fight, weapon discarded on the ground.

God damn it that _hurt_.

The regret at having put myself in a position where such a thing was bound to happen almost burned as much as the pain ricocheting through my skull.

Blinking the tears away rapidly, I ducked under a somewhat delayed punch, chakra sliding over to my right fist and concentrating there. I aimed for Lee's cheek and my knuckles brushed by his hair as he dodged. My fist kept on powering past him however and I was rewarded by the kunai attached to my hand with a chakra thread not missing its target.

The cut across his cheek was shallow but a hit all the same, a few droplets of blood flying. There was a brief moment of breathless, slightly surprised victory that lasted hardly any time at all.

" _Leaf hurricane_!"

The roundhouse kick clipped my leg as I tried to throw my body out of the way and I dropped like a sack of bricks. My face smacked hard into the ground and I got a mouthful of dirt that made me choke and splutter, not at all helped by the blood flowing from my nose. "Ah, Sakura-san, are you alright?!"

 _Oh absolutely fucking wonderful._

Lee yanked me a little violently to my feet and I couldn't stop the reflexive glare, reaching up to touch the bridge of my nose gingerly. I was more pissed off at myself if anything. There had definitely been time to cushion my fall that I'd wasted on lingering thoughts of false victory.

 _Idiot, if this had been a real fight then that wouldn't have just been a bloody nose. Idiot, idiot, idiot._

Now the initial shock of the blow had receded, I could taste the disgusting mixture of dry dirt and coppery blood in my mouth, the red liquid dribbling over my lips and down my aching chin. Wiping the lower half of my face with my arm warmer, I concluded with a slight wince that I hadn't broken my nose. It was little pittance amongst the rest of my burning, sore injuries but it did mean I didn't have to go to the hospital, which was always a plus.

"I think that's me done," I told Lee, voice slightly muffled by my arm over my mouth. His eyes flickered with disappointment, however, he nodded in understanding. It wasn't a particularly good idea to continue sparring with one combatant spewing blood everywhere and I didn't really want to pass out in a training accident because of it.

"That was a good match, Sakura-san!" He declared with this genuine edge to his tone that surprised me. The red mark on his cheek from where my kunai had cut him stood out on his otherwise mostly uninjured face. "I certainly did not see some of those attacks coming, especially that last of yours, and your blows were just as powerful as I thought they might be!"

Gai's boisterous laughter sounded from nearby, the man having stepped forwards and grinning at us both. "You clearly have a lot of training to do if Sakura's tricks managed to catch you out like that, Lee."

"Yes, Gai-sensei!"

The jōnin nodded approvingly at his student's reaction, gaze then landing on me and hovering there, thoughtfully. "My eternal rival has taught his pupil well, it seems," he then announced after a moment's pause. Unsure of whether this was praise meant for me or Kakashi, I ducked my head, eyes then flicking over to Neji and Tenten.

The Hyūga held some note of surprise in his usually uniquely unimpressed glare. His lips pressed together into a thin line that broke when he switched his gaze to Lee. "You shouldn't go so easy on your opponents, Lee." He spoke in a somewhat sneery tone, words clearly meant to embarrass and humiliate me at the realization I'd not been fought seriously. The only flaw in that plan, however, was that I was already painfully aware of the fact so did not react in the slightest.

Tenten, on the other hand, snapped her head around to gape at Neji in bright confusion, then twisted back round and jogged towards me. "Don't listen to him at all - I've seen _way_ beefier guys than you go twice as hard and long in a fight against Lee and not even put a scratch on him!" She sounded a little disbelieving and there was a smidgen of embarrassment that clearly originated from having thought I'd do absolutely awful in the sparring match.

"Thanks." I meant it, truly and honestly. I'd thought that I _had_ done awfully, but her genuine tone suggested I hadn't done as badly as I'd initially thought.

She smiled back, gaining an edge of cheekiness to the curve of her lips "You use weapons pretty well too, but your aim _could_ use a little work."

"I still think she did a good job!" Lee said defensively. Tenten rolled her eyes whilst biting back a laugh at her teammate's reaction. "A-anyway, Sakura-san, it would be my honour to spar with you again in the near future!"

I didn't have to think quite as hard about accepting this time, pulling my arm away from my nose a little then completely so after ascertaining the blood flow had stopped. Experience was good, despite the pain it had brought. Glancing back up, I shot one of my client smiles at him. "I'd be happy to, even if it's only enough for you as a warm up."

Lee clapped my shoulders suddenly and I flinched a little in surprise, the boy frowning seriously at me. "Sakura-san, Gai-sensei himself has praised you so please have more confidence in your abilities!" He barked.

I leant a little ways backwards, eyeing him warily. "...Thanks?"

The stormy expression vanished and Lee patted my shoulders, beaming. "You are very welcome, Sakura-san!"

To my side, Tenten sighed deeply and shook her head.

* * *

"Where did you get that?"

I paused in my painting of the fence, turning a little to see Sasuke gazing questioningly at me. He sat cross-legged a metre or so away and had rather amusingly managed to get paint all the way down his arm, although he was clearly trying hard to pretend that hadn't happened at all. "Get what?"

He flicked a finger towards his chin and it took me a second to understand what he was referring to, having to resist the sudden urge to touch the ugly bruise that had formed in that same spot on me. It was still tender and painful and it was definitely better to leave it alone, not prod incessantly at it.

I shrugged. "Sparring match."

There was a glimmer of interest in his expression mixed with surprise. He hadn't heard me agree to Lee's offer after all and, considering my reaction to his desire to perhaps fight me one day, was understandably curious. "With who?"

"Lee. I lost," I added as an afterthought upon seeing him recognize it as the name of the boy that had beaten Haku so effortlessly into the ground.

There was loud tutting from the tree nearby and I looked up at Kakashi who was, as per usual, lounging around and reading his book instead of helping us with the mission. Not that I expected any different at this point. "You'll make me look bad as your teacher if you lose that often."

"Don't worry, you already can't look much worse."

The man cast his gaze up to the heavens. "Young people these days. No respect."

"And you wonder why?" Sasuke muttered under his breath.

Kakashi shot a look of utter betrayal down at the Uchiha. "Not you too, Sasuke. You can't _both_ gang up on me like this. I'll have to recruit Naruto to my side," he told us like it pained him to resort to such an extreme.

I raised an eyebrow. "Naruto would betray you in a heartbeat for just a single bowl of ramen."

Sasuke's lips quirked into a smirk as Kakashi let out a wistful sigh. "I wish I could argue but I think you're probably right. Lord have mercy on us if Ichiraku's goes rogue."

"He can be another village's problem then though."

"Oh, good point, Sakura."

* * *

I bit my lip as I stared down at another ultimately useless map of the infamous forty-fourth training ground. It made sense, of course, that it'd be difficult to acquire detailed layout of what was often the stage for the second exam. I'd hoped that I'd be rewarded for thinking ahead and acquiring such information before entering the exam but clearly they wanted us to approach the situation from a standpoint where we knew nothing.

 _Damn it._

I'd toyed briefly with the idea of asking Kakashi to acquire a substantial map with his higher clearance, however, I didn't like my chances of him actually doing as I asked. If I was right in my thinking that the chūnin hopefuls were supposed to know next to nothing then, even if he agreed to my request, someone would probably notice and stop him. Not that I didn't believe Kakashi could steal a book or two from the library without anyone noticing but I doubted he'd try his hardest to be sneaky about the whole affair.

 _Damn. It._

The second stage was the most dangerous part of the whole exam, not including the invasion of which struck equal mind numbing terror into me. No, that was a lie, the second stage was _so_ much worse.

I was going to be trapped in an area with two psychopathic _monsters_ , one of which wanted Sasuke's body and would probably kill me as collateral damage and the other which would just kill me because I was there. There would be no Kakashi to fall back to. Little chance of backup either unless we were lucky to come across any of the other familiar Konoha genin, and even then they wouldn't be much help.

And I was going to have to walk into that hell of a situation on my own two legs.

Refusing the nomination I knew was going to come wasn't an option. I was expected to pass. Really, truly expected to pass and by the Hokage himself no less. Failing the first stage was hardly a viable option either. The way Ibiki was going to instil fear into the candidates was effective, no doubt, but I ran on a different kind of fear. He could sneer and threaten all he wanted about me never being able to take the exam again if I failed this time round. That was my idea of heaven he was talking about and I knew I wouldn't reach it so he might as well scream at a brick wall.

Being caught cheating sloppily and exiting the exams that way was also an impossibility. The Hokage had made it clear that I was under no circumstances to repeat my display of a false skill level. Passing the exams was a service to my village and I would _not_ deny them of that.

Because there would be real, horrifying consequences if I did.

So, unless a miracle occurred, I would not escape the second stage. I would not escape Orochimaru. I would not escape Gaara.

A small thought slipped through my mind that suggested I simply tell someone about the hell that was to come and avoid it all that way. It made me want to laugh, bitterly. Information like that was just too much for me to know. Too dangerous for someone to know I knew. I'd need to find a reason for knowing. But when could I find that reason for knowing? Not in the short expanse of time that was the first stage, that was for sure. How the hell could I in that brief period find a reason to suspect _Orochimaru_ was there?

(Because he was the main threat and Gaara was secondary, oh so secondary to power like that.)

I wanted to _scream_.

"Ah, Sakura-san?"

Blinking, I looked up from the map to see a familiar pair of pale eyes cast in my direction. Hinata stood across the desk in the Konoha library from me, cradling a few scrolls in her arms and offering a small, hesitant smile. "Oh. Hello." The greeting fell awkwardly from my mouth, feeling the learned twist of dread that one of the rookie nine was attempting to interact with me. I forced it down. There was no point to trying to avoid her the best I could now.

She didn't meet my gaze. "I heard you passed your jōnin-sensei's test," she told me in her usual soft voice, fingers playing about with the ends of her sleeves. "Congratulations." Hinata ducked her head a little.

"You too." It was hard to be anything but cordial to the girl. She was so soft and quiet and she unintentionally made you feel painfully invested in her, wanting her to succeed even in the little things. Precious was a good word to describe how I viewed her. Defending her against Ami that one time had made me feel better about myself. I might have been going down a road that would leave people the canon Sakura had saved to die but at least I hadn't been so awful as to allow Hinata to have suffered continually under that girl's bullying.

It had been a small promise to myself, a way to keep myself from buckling under the guilt by placing certain lines I would not allow to be crossed. In the end, those self-imposed lines hadn't worked and the emotions - mostly anger - had ended up consuming me, ruining my whole plan during the bell test. But it was hard to cross out such lines, even if they meant little now.

"You're on team eight with Kiba and Shino, right?"

Hinata nodded, looking a little surprised that I remembered. "Y-yes. With Kurenai-sensei."

"It must be difficult with someone like Kiba." I meant it. He could be so much more annoying than even Naruto.

"Ah, no, not at all, Kiba-kun isn't…" She struggled to defend her teammate. _Too nice for her own good._ "How is your team, Sakura-san?"

Ever the polite Hyūga heiress, even when trying to change the subject so blatantly. I shrugged. "Could be better." _A lot better._

Her gaze dropped even further. "I heard Naruto-kun was...taken off duty for a while."

It wasn't that hard to find out, to be honest. He had been rushing around the village without his headband for a while now. Even Sasuke and I had run into him whilst doing our D-ranks (a painfully awkward meeting which devolved into the normal bickering when the Uchiha had said something mildly insulting as a way to fill the silence). "Yeah. He messed up on one of our missions."

Hinata looked painfully concerned. I imagined anyone who knew Naruto would be. Being a ninja was _everything_ to him and for a month it had been taken away. At the very least, it doubly ensured Naruto would try hard to never do something so stupid ever again. "I see…"

There was then a familiar shout followed by the recognizable yelling of the librarian for whoever had shouted to _shut up_ (you usually listened, the woman was trained ninja and had been known to chuck things when ignored) and Hinata hastily fired off her goodbyes, scampering off to where the barking had now started.

Gaze flicking back to the map, I was unable to stop the rise of the panic and fear of the inevitable once more.

* * *

The third training ground was surprising loud considering I'd only expected Sasuke to be there but I found the source soon enough - or, more accurately, the source found me, rushing over with a bright smile and gleaming headband.

"Sakura-chan!"

I blinked.

Naruto stood in front of me, except it had taken a second for me to recognize him with the startling lack of _orange._ That wasn't to say his trademark colour wasn't there at all, however, it might as well have not been there with how little there was compared to what I was used to seeing him in.

The jacket was black in a style that vividly reminded me of what _Boruto_ had worn, although lined with orange instead of red and zipped up all the way. The orange trousers were gone too, now entirely black in colour. All that seemed to remain of his original look was the blue headband, metal having so obviously been polished with painstaking effort - and recently too.

My teammate fidgeted on the spot, smile beginning to seem nervous as he rubbed his head sheepishly. "Heh, I tried to listen to what you said about picking something darker but in the end Iruka-sensei had to help me choose something. It's kinda weird, isn't it?" He laughed a little awkwardly, one hand picking at his jacket.

"...No, it's good." It was, although not so surprisingly now I knew Iruka had been the one to pick it out. Dark was what I had wanted and dark was what I'd gotten. Of course, it would have been better without the orange trimmings but we couldn't have it all. As a compromise, it still worked. As long as he was a little quieter when walking through places, I imagined he'd be almost completely unnoticeable.

Amusingly enough, I noted in the back of my mind, Sasuke with his blue top and white shorts had suddenly become the most eye-catching of us all.

Naruto's lips broke into a huge, genuine grin, all anxiety falling away. He rubbed his finger under his nose, eyes scrunching up as he directed the beam my way. "Hehe, thanks, Sakura-chan!"

"It looks weird," Sasuke then drawled, sitting up on a branch of a nearby tree.

Naruto pulled a face, spinning round to glare at him. "I didn't ask for your opinion, bastard!"

" _Idiot._ "

"Shut up!"

"Endearing isn't it?" Kakashi's voice sounded from beside me as my teammates fell into their usual pattern of bickering.

I glanced sideways at him, unimpressed by the idea of anything about the boys being _endearing_. Irritating and annoying were far better descriptors where Sasuke and Naruto were concerned. At a stretch, they were simply _bearable._ "You mean their attempts to kill each other?"

The jōnin smiled. "You're not a real team if you haven't tried murdering one another at least three times."

 _Charming._

"Now, who is ready for an _exciting_ D-rank?"

Naruto stopped his bickering with Sasuke to make a noise that distinctly sounded like the wish for imminent death over such a fate. It was however much more muted a reaction than I was used to him having to the mention of the dreaded D-ranks. The gleam in his eyes indicated this urge to prove himself even in such lowly ranked missions.

He'd been suspended once and that look seemed to whisper quietly, but resolutely, _never again._

* * *

The pain in my stomach made me double over, choking as I tried to replace the air that had been so violently knocked out of me but to little avail. I scrunched up my eyes when my surroundings started to spin around me, curses exploding through my head. _I can't breathe, I can't breathe._

Eventually, after what could've only been a few seconds, everything righted itself and I sucked in air deeply, hacking coughs then escaping my mouth. "Just winded," I rasped once I'd opened my eyes slightly to see Lee beginning to approach. The concerned expression softened in relief and I wiped my mouth, eyes shutting and opening a few times to force the shaking world to still entirely.

I hadn't been expecting the kick from the angle it had flown from and had concentrated my chakra into a useless block instead. That in turn had meant hardly any chakra had softened the blow like it would have for someone without chakra manipulation abilities and I'd been winded almost instantly. It was a blinding weakness to the skill that allowed me to slide the power of my attacks and blocks around somewhat. Strengthening one area meant weakening another.

 _God that hurt._

"Maybe you two should stop there," Tenten called from the edge of the clearing. Gai had instructed her to watch over mine and Lee's spar whilst he and Neji, who had next to no interest in watching our fight, trained elsewhere.

I flicked my gaze back to Lee, accurately predicting the look of resigned disappointment. Our few spars thus far had almost always ended in the same way after all with me being the one unable to continue. I did, however, note with pride that I'd landed a couple more hits this time, one which I was particularly happy with having resulted in a large bruise already forming on his cheek.

Granted, it had been only possible because I'd gotten a knee to the shoulder, allowing me to grab onto him and use my whole body weight to throw him into the ground, but it was the small victories with Lee that mattered.

Rubbing my shoulder at the memory, I bowed my head in the usual thanks for the spar, Lee copying the movement with a grudgingly accepting smile at the fact the match was over. "That was a good fight as per usual, Sakura-san," he told me once we'd both straightened and I'd removed my hood. Tenten ambled over from the log she'd been watching us from, absent-mindedly spinning a kunai in between her fingers in a way that would've made me nervous were it not for the fact it was her doing it.

"Regrettably, however, I will be unable to spar with you for a while after this," Lee continued, making me snap my attention back to him. "The Chūnin Exams are approaching and I must train with my teammates instead."

My insides twisted at the mention of the exams. More and more reminders of their imminent arrival were popping up with my father preparing for the boom of business in Konoha and the security of the village tightening. Kakashi hadn't been able to get away with 'forgetting' his ninja ID when we went around delivering messages and had to get into official buildings for one of our D-ranks.

"That's fine, I understand," I replied instead, the boy seeming relieved by my answer.

He then seemed to contemplate something, twisting the idea over in his head thoughtfully before speaking up again. "Will you be participating, Sakura-san?"

The question surprised me. I remembered somewhat faintly his canon-self viewing the nominations of the rookie nine as an absurdity (which it was, really). It was high praise if nothing else that he considered my chances of taking part as enough to ask me if it were the case. "...Yes, probably," I answered truthfully. There was no point to lying about it. In fact, it would probably help if team Gai were aware my team was taking part. They didn't seem the alliance making type overall but every bit of potential help mattered with what was going to happen.

Lee nodded hesitantly whilst Tenten's eyebrows shot up in shock. " _Seriously_?" She paused, folding her arms and cocking her head to the side before shrugging. "Well, Kakashi Hatake _is_ your teacher. He does seem like the type to chuck his students into the deep end like that. Are your teammates going to be alright though?"

Another bolt of genuine surprise. Tenten hadn't included me in that question, indicating a fairly high opinion of me I hadn't expected her to have. Sure, her telling me I did well in my spars against Lee suggested she thought I wasn't absolutely awful, but this was a completely different kettle of fish altogether. "Do you think _I'm_ going to be alright?"

"To be honest, it would certainly be better if you waited another year," Tenten informed me. "I mean, we waited a year and, whilst I thought we might've been able to do it back then, we've definitely improved a _lot_ to the point where I'm absolutely certain we'll make it to the end." She shared a self-assured grin with Lee before continuing. "But I think you might be able to go fairly far. Besides, you aren't a stubborn idiot like _my_ teammates can be, so I don't think the danger of it is that much of an issue. Just remember that if the going gets tough there isn't any shame in quitting before you get hurt."

"But Tenten, you're pretty stubborn too," Lee pointed out.

She shot him a fake glare. "Hey, I'm trying to be the wise upperclassman here giving sound advice, don't ruin this for me!"

* * *

I'd known my time was officially up the first day I saw unfamiliar, foreign headbands pass us by on the streets after we'd handed in our latest mission. We'd been flying through missions at an unprecedented rate when I really thought about it. Then again, with Kakashi resolutely teaching us practically nothing at all, I supposed it was his way of making up for it by piling the missions on high.

It had only been a glimpse.

Metal that gleamed with the Taki symbol stamped on, catching my eye for only a split second and leaving me unable to breathe for far much longer.

 _Too soon._

It always would be too soon, I thought, bitterly, hysterically. When possibly would it be a _good_ _time_ to face what horrors were coming?

I wanted to run so badly.

Were it my choice, I would've chosen to do the Wave mission ten more times over competing once in these exams. Hindsight was a hell of a thing and time had made the fear so palpable during the mission somehow bearable in my memories.

At least Zabuza had been killable. Orochimaru was an immortal monster as far as I was concerned. Anything I heard about him encouraged the idea enormously. He was pure evil, the stuff nightmares were made of, a bogeyman too horrifying to use in joking threats for children that did not listen to their parents.

I think the only thing that kept me from breaking down into hysterical sobs and refusing to enter despite the consequences was that truly comprehending the Sannin's power and lack of humanity was beyond my capabilities. I could, however, comprehend what would happen if I didn't enter the exams.

Kakashi handed us the applications the next day.

"Chūnin Exams?" Naruto squinted at his piece of paper as I stared at mine, wishing it would just spontaneously combust.

Sasuke looked sideways at him, an unimpressed shade to his stare. "You don't even know what they are?"

"Of course I know!" The blonde snapped, gripping his application tighter. "I just thought…"

"I believe you're all ready," Kakashi informed us, gaze flickering to me and hovering there, briefly, before continuing to the others. "I wouldn't be nominating you otherwise now would I?"

Naruto looked touched. The realization he felt that way because he, the overly confident boy who really should have a little less faith in his own skill, had doubted himself and was thusly surprised to find he'd been nominated to possibly become chūnin was mildly shocking through the numbing terror.

I didn't think he was ready. It was hard to think that _Kakashi_ thought he was ready.

Sasuke I could understand being nominated. Despite having accidentally taken the spotlight myself, Sasuke had been named the rookie of our year for a reason. I thought personally that he could take me in a fight, no question about it. My nomination made more than perfect sense too. Naruto however…

It could just be as simple as him being the third member of our team and Kakashi deeming he'd survive the ordeal alongside us. As an experience, it was invaluable, even if it was dangerous. It offered the chance to fight against ninja of other villages in a 'friendly' environment. It gave a clear indication of how good you actually were and what to improve on. Naruto, who wanted so desperately to better himself, would learn a lot from it.

That seemed too simple a reason though. It would make sense if it were Gai being so straightforward in his thinking but this was Kakashi.

Something was up.

I just didn't have the time or mind space to think however of what that something could be.

"Just make sure to hand them in at room 301 in the Academy before four in the afternoon tomorrow," the jōnin told us. Panic soared ( _tomorrow? Oh god, I thought I might have a couple more days at the very least!)_ but not enough for me to not notice that Kakashi hadn't told us to hand them in if we wanted to take the test. We _would_ be taking part. That was a given in his eyes. In my eyes.

I tightened my grip on the piece of paper, breathing out slowly.

Willingly or not, I was going to take these exams. It reminded me somewhat of when Kakashi had been captured by Zabuza and my only two choices were the acceptance of death or a seemingly futile fight against it. And, even if I was terrified, even if I wanted to scream, even if I was going to break down in the end because this was _Orochimaru_ and I was nothing compared to him, nothing, I wasn't going to just sit down and let death take me. Not then, not now.

* * *

I didn't have to go out of my way to tell my parents that I was taking the exams in the end.

Mebuki saw the application in my hand. Recognized it on first sight. Took a moment to process what it meant, went wide eyed then congratulated me. Kizashi scooped me up into a bear hug and laughed, boasting that his daughter really was a _superstar_.

They shared looks of confusion later. It was natural; Sakura Haruno had only ever brought home average grades on her report cards excluding in taijutsu. And now, a few months after graduating the Academy, she was being nominated to become a chūnin.

I think the only thing keeping them from truly questioning what was going on was because back in their day it was normal for people to become chūnin at my age. It was much harder now to get that promotion since we weren't in a war and promoting people willy-nilly caused problems as chances were they weren't really ready for it.

So my parents thought it strange but not that strange.

I wondered bitterly what their reactions were going to be when I came home with that flak jacket. Because it was either I got myself promoted or got myself killed.

* * *

My teammates and I probably all reacted to the sight of the Academy in different ways. Naruto, I imagined, saw the place with pleasant nostalgia, perhaps coupled with some embarrassment at the memories of his academic failures. Sasuke most likely had less of an emotional attachment to the place, having seen our lessons there as simply necessary to his path of revenge. The sight of the building made me think of my time there having been the calm before the storm. At the time it hadn't seemed calm, always working to maintain my image of averageness and not being allowed to rest for even a second, but I knew now it had been.

 _You only truly appreciate things when they're gone._

We met by the swing outside the Academy. Naruto had been staring at it when I arrived, brows furrowed together in deep thought and lips pressed into a serious line. Then he saw me and broke into a grin instead, waving me over. Sasuke was predictably there already, arms folded and the image of confidence. Upon seeing me, he shot me a look that screamed I should be behaving in a similar manner.

Chūnin took on mainly C and B-ranks and we'd survived an _A_ -rank. By all means, we should be walking in with our heads held high, fear left far behind on the Great Kaiza Bridge that stood as a monument to the good always winning in the end.

He had no idea.

 _Breathe Sakura. Breathe._

It was already busy despite the fact the deadline wasn't for a while yet. From what I could see, it was mostly Konoha genin, understandably since we were in Konoha right now, but the foreign ninja were easy to pick out and not just because of their headbands. The style of clothing of the different villages was distinctive. A lot of the Suna-nin wore headscarves and looser clothing that we wore in Konoha. The jumpsuits of those Ame-nin were instantly recognizable too.

What was most distinctive, however, was the hostility.

None of us were at war, hadn't been for years. Officially, we all played nice with one another; the ninja villages on such good terms that we held Chūnin Exams where everyone could come together in a friendly test of skill of the newer generations.

The reality was far, far removed from that.

It was likely that a lot of our parents had faced each other on the battlefield before. Grudges had been handed down, only worsened by how we were in an economic depression at the moment. Konoha hosting the exams hadn't been by chance, we were probably the only ones who could really afford it. And that made things worse too because by doing so we were flaunting our comparative wealth. No wonder blood was boiling.

It didn't help that Konoha had entered so many rookies. Our age either was a statement that our village was incredibly powerful with rookies skilled enough to take them on or an insult because _look, our rookies are skilled enough to take you on._

With all this anger and hatred swirling, something was going to have to give and soon. That much was blindingly obvious.

I pulled my hood further over my head, ignoring another glare we'd gotten from a foreign-nin. Even Naruto seemed to be aware of the palpable tension, walking closer to Sasuke and I. "What the hell is that guy's problem?" He muttered, pulling a face back at the one that had glared at us.

I wanted to tell him to shut up and not provoke anyone, not now, but it was already taking all I had to keep a semblance of a calm expression on my face. Somewhere in this building Orochimaru and Gaara were waiting. _You can't let anyone know you're afraid. They will know. They will see it. Keep. It. Together._

We started climbing the stairs. I ended up not needing to sense unfamiliar chakra suddenly entering my system, which made me squirm reflexively and my teammates both glance my way. I'd been going up and down these stairs for years. Granted, I'd been looking for it, but there was an immediate, distinct sensation of something being very, very wrong.

Sasuke, of course, had noticed it before me. He hadn't gotten his sharingan yet but he was a Uchiha. Uchiha's just had to be better at everything pertaining to genjutsu and detecting them was no exception.

"Next floor," I managed to spit out. There was a moment where I thought Sasuke was going to ignore me and go the confrontational route instead. Lying low was the best chance we had right now however. That at the very least might throw Gaara off of us. After those few, awful seconds, Sasuke gave a small jerk of the head and snagged Naruto by the back of the jacket before he could go wandering off further into the genjutsu.

"Hey, what the hell, get off of me!"

"Do you want to go to the wrong floor, _idiot_?"

"What do you mean ' _wrong floor'?_ "

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw team Gai pretending to have been hit by the disguised chūnin examiners. That was good for us. I wanted to be seen as weak but not so weak we'd become an obvious target. Team Gai with their public display would be labelled as the bottom of the food chain and, as long as we didn't do something ridiculously stupid, then that impression would stick with people through the first couple of stages.

 _Breathe. Breathe. You can do this. You will do this._

It was less crowded on the second floor. It was slightly surprising as I didn't think too many people would have fallen for the genjutsu trick since it had been fairly weak. Kurenai had once visited the Academy and performed a genjutsu so perfect I hadn't even noticed the foreign chakra entering my body, and the woman hadn't seemed to try at all to do it. But those who hadn't fallen for the genjutsu downstairs could've just gotten inside the room already.

My skin started to crawl, chakra sweeping over me in an attempt to soothe the shaking panic at what lay behind the doors of room 301. _Please let me be able to do this. Please._

Naruto pushed open the door.

* * *

 **Extra (scene I didn't get to slot into original story)**

Kakashi didn't really know why they were even giving him the applications to then hand to his students for them to hand right back in.

Sasuke, he knew, undoubtedly, was going to fill it out without a second thought. Naruto, eager to prove himself after his suspension, would do the same. Sakura had no choice in the matter (he knew it, she knew it, the damn _Hokage_ knew it). There was literally no point at all aside from the village's incessant desire to make him do unnecessary paperwork.

 _Administrative assholes._

He flicked his gaze up again to see the chūnin he thought was called Iruka still putting forth his argument as to why the rookie genin shouldn't take part in the exams. Dully, he noted, the man seemed to be struggling to think up any more of a reason why team seven shouldn't take part other than Naruto's suspension. Then again, it was difficult to truly protest against their participation when they had Sasuke Uchiha, who had been lauded as a prodigy somewhat for years, and Sakura Haruno, who people thought should've just gotten a promotion for breaking Kakashi fucking Hatake's arm, let alone for what she'd done on the Wave mission.

"I understand what you are saying but I must assure you that I know the limitations of my own students," Kurenai told the chūnin in a far kinder voice than Kakashi would've been willing to use had Iruka latched onto his team more than he had. It was an unintentional insult to declare that a team wasn't ready when their jōnin instructor had said they were. He was only really trying to help his ex-students of whom he'd known since they were small. The fact someone as soft as him had been born from a system that had spat people like Kakashi out, jaded and deadly sharp, was a minor miracle.

Although he was an Academy teacher and they were a special breed of people, chosen specifically to not traumatize the younger generations. Or, at the very least, reduce the chances of that happening.

"But they are far too inexperienced-" Iruka began, only to be cut off.

"He's right. Why not make them wait another year?" Gai had stepped forwards, arms folded and expression serious. "I made my own students wait. You are getting ahead of yourselves."

His gaze briefly met Kakashi's before going back to Asuma and Kurenai. Gai had seen team seven. Had already said he saw potential in Naruto, whose stumbled, pretty words might one day inspire a nation. Had already said he saw fire in Sasuke, the Uchiha without the sharingan who shot glares back at the clan kid who had his dōjutsu and was thought of as a true genius without a second thought. Had already said he saw something truly incredible in Sakura, who brought back vivid memories of the previous generations of prodigies.

Team seven, whilst not perfect in the slightest, had earned Gai's approval.

Kakashi felt a little proud despite himself.

His gaze then snapped down to the paperwork and he internally groaned again.

* * *

 **When you write this whole nice mini arc and end up having to kill it all because it just feels slightly off FML. So yeah, this was my second writing of the chapter without the complex political tie-ins that I guess I'll leave for a later date**

 **BUT END OF THE WEAK SET OF CHAPTERS FINALLY. We can now get to the stuff I actually WANT to write and it'll all flow better yes. Next chapter will be much better I promise** **(I also haven't forgotten about Gatō or Haku, don't worry)**

 **I was also planning on doing a double update but I've hit a snag in the next chapter so you guys are gonna have to wait a lil longer for that one - sorry!**

 **Reviewer Question: Favourite stage of the chūnin exams?**

 **Probably the second, just cuz I loved that Sasuke vs Orochimaru fight (I like the 'smart' fights more than the super impressive god-like power ones tbh). I really liked the idea of the first stage though with everyone cheating :)**


	22. Silence is golden

**Well my solution apparently to chapters I really don't like is to double update**

 **So uh**

 **Keep reading? (And whilst this chapter might not be great the next one will hopefully make up for it)**

 **Also I'm so sorry if I missed you on reviewer replies as there was a boom in reviews and I'm currently in the middle of sorting out my stuff for when I move house. I really dislike it when I'm not able to reply to everyone who took the time to review. New Years resolution is to definitely have that all under control!**

* * *

 _ **Iwanu ga hana**_

" _ **Not-speaking is the flower."**_

 _ **Silence is golden**_

* * *

As someone who had spent years trying to be as unnoticeable as possible, having over one hundred pairs of eyes suddenly _latch_ onto me when I walked into a room wasn't even close to my idea of fun.

I was being assessed. Very, very obviously assessed by strangers who had sharpened weapons and wanted to win, where winning meant anything from becoming chūnin to ripping my heart out of my chest and leering at my lifeless body. They took everything into account: my headband, my clothing, my level of attractiveness, my presence, _everything._

The Chūnin Exams weren't just run by the exam proctors, they were run by the participants themselves, using intimidation tactics and physical fights to deem who really was the best amongst them. It was part of the test to survive in a judgemental, enemy territory.

I was not afraid of the crowd of people judging me. Unnerved, yes, but the skill of the chūnin hopefuls was laughable compared to what I knew Orochimaru and Gaara had. It actually relieved some of my fear upon realizing I wasn't scared of the majority of participants in the exam. I'd gone against worse. I was going to go against worse.

Those that did not fit into the 'worse' category might as well then be a walk in the park.

Ducking my head in a very deliberate show of submission, I turned and headed towards one of the sides of the room. Naruto followed immediately, probably the most affected of us three by how many people were staring at us, whilst Sasuke paused before doing the same, all glares and hostility for the onlookers. "I didn't expect for there to be so _many_ ," Naruto murmured, a little in awe.

Sasuke looked sideways at him. "Scared?"

He scowled. "Of course not!"

"Quiet," I muttered, Naruto immediately snapping his mouth shut. Eyes were still following us - or, more accurately, they were following the symbol on Sasuke's back. The Uchiha clan was famous and the massacre infamous. I doubted there were many people who didn't now know who my teammate was.

 _So much for being inconspicuous._

I breathed out slowly, leaning my back against the wall. _Be calm. Pretend you are calm. Don't let anyone latch onto the fear as anything other than nerves. Don't think about how there are at least two psychopathic killers in this room that will tear you to pieces on a mere whim._

 _You. Will. Do. This._

"Hey, hey! You guys are here too?" A familiar voice followed by a soft bark made my eyes snap up to see team eight approaching, Kiba leading the trio with a grin. "And here I thought only my team was good enough for this exam. No, wait, it still is."

The sheer _confidence_ in his voice made me almost want to laugh hysterically.

"K-Kiba-kun!" Hinata shot her teammate a dismayed look as he laughed, Sasuke scoffing at the idea and Naruto pulling a face.

"It is still surprising however that your team was nominated also," Shino spoke up, hands in his pockets and voice incredibly calm. "Why? Because no rookie team has been put forth for the Chūnin Exams in over five years, let alone two at the same time."

"No wonder everyone's been glaring at us." Kiba's grin grew.

Shino then cocked his head to the side slightly. "I stand corrected: make it three."

" _Sasuke-kun!"_

A familiar girl came flying out of nowhere towards my teammate. Sasuke's hands shot up, starting to move into a defensive stance, but his 'attacker' was not in fact hostile and, after realizing this, he clearly didn't know what to do. So he allowed the purple blur to crash into him, stumbling backwards.

"It's been far too long, I missed you~!" Ino lathered on the sickly sweet tone as she caught Sasuke in a tight hug, the Uchiha barely able to keep his balance. He shot a look over at me that was something in between confusion, horror and a begrudging request for help.

 _No, fuck that._

"And there she goes." Another familiar voice sounded as Sasuke's eyes narrowed into a glare at my obvious refusal to free him from Ino's clutches, Naruto snickering away at the Uchiha's predicament. I turned to see Shikamaru and Chōji approaching, the former shooting a look of mild exasperation at Ino's antics but clearly not wishing to get involved either.

"Right, who ordered a screaming banshee?" Kiba joked, showing off his teeth as Ino snapped her head round to glare at him.

"Shut it, dog breath!" She snapped, arms still around Sasuke.

Kiba looked hugely offended, Akamaru even more so.

"So you guys got dragged into this dumb exam too?" Shikamaru then asked.

 _No, I'm here for the fucking fun of it._

I think he caught onto my 'are you being serious' stare at his question and he blinked before sighing heavily, folding his arms behind his head. "Man, this is going to be such a _pain,"_ he grumbled.

Chōji offered him a crisp as a sign of sympathy, then blinked at Naruto. "You changed your outfit?"

Naruto grinned widely, putting his hands on his hips. "Heh, yeah, isn't it cool?"

"At least it doesn't hurt people's eyes to look at you now," I muttered without thinking.

Kiba, who had heard me, choked on his laughter. "Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined, looking betrayed.

 _Is this really happening right now?_

The whole situation was so out of place I didn't know whether to laugh or just stare on in disbelief. Logically, I knew this was just a way to alleviate nerves. Even Kiba in all his confidence was bound to have some doubts about the exam (because if he didn't he was far stupider than I would've hoped) and by surrounding ourselves with familiar faces we would feel a little calmer. And it had worked for a few moments to distract me from the fear but we were being way too loud. The longer we chatted for, the more chance we had of a target being painted over our heads.

It didn't help that we were clearly a group of more than one clan kid (Hinata's eyes were a dead giveaway and the Akimichi clan was one of the big four Konoha clans after all). We might as well have been _screaming_ for people to look at us!

Moving away didn't bode much better for us though. For starters, us hanging together in a group could indicate an alliance between the rookie nine that would push people away from us in the second stage. It would also suggest to those thirsty for a fight that we weren't too good on our own and thus not 'worthy' opponents. And, though it was pathetic, I did feel marginally safer in a larger group, even if they would do little against someone like Orochimaru. Besides, I doubted my team would want to move and moving alone was asking to be stared at.

The doors opened again and I snapped my gaze around to see team Gai stumble in. They were keeping up the illusion of their weakness incredibly well. Lee was limping slightly whilst Tenten cradled her left arm to her chest. Neji, of course, was the least 'injured', only suffering from a bruise to the face, but I imagined acting that he was truly hurt was beneath him.

 _A henge?_

"Hey, isn't that the team that was getting beat up?" Chōji asked in between mouthfuls, not really sounding that concerned.

Ino pulled a face. " _Lame._ "

Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction before he realized what must have happened and smirked instead. Naruto stayed in the realm of disbelief for a little while longer, squinting at the team. Hinata, who I saw out of the corner of my eye, didn't look as though she believed her cousin's injuries for a moment. Tenten met my gaze for a split second and her lips twitched upwards in acknowledgment before continuing her weakling act and pretending to cower under the glares shot her way.

Their timing ended up being truly impeccable.

Smoke suddenly exploded at the front of the room. "All of you, _shut your damn mouths!_ " Ibiki bellowed so loud my ears rang much like they did after having been too close to an exploding tag. "I don't want to have to repeat anything I say to you bloody brats so listen up!"

"Bloody hell," Kiba muttered under his breath, Shikamaru looking as though he'd rather be anywhere other than in the vicinity of the man's yells.

"I'm Ibiki Morino, the examiner for the first stage of the Chūnin Exams," the man told us, the crowd of chūnin behind him almost exclusively wearing smug expressions as they stared us all down. "That means whatever I say in this room goes. If you piss me off then don't you think for even a measly little second I _won't_ throw you out and make you wait another six months before you can crawl your miserable, pathetic asses back to the Exams again!"

He paused for a moment, waiting for someone to protest but meeting silence instead. Ibiki was _terrifying._ Except I was less scared of his yells and more scared of what I knew he could do.

 _Torture. Use a Yamanaka to rip through your mind. Make you tell every secret you had, whether you wanted to or not._

There was a tightrope I was being made to walk that swayed dangerously left and right. Below me on one side laid the monsters, promises of death on their lips and hands soaked in blood. On the other stood Ibiki and his division, the tools to cut open my mind already in their hands. If I failed the exam then it was the latter I'd be facing. If I passed, the former. There was no option to just keep walking down the tightrope because it would snap indefinitely, my paranoia told me. Seeing Ibiki should've reinforced the decision I'd already made.

I balled my hands into fists, fingernails digging into my palms.

 _Calm. You must be calm._

" _Good_." Ibiki smiled. It was not a pleasant sight. "Now, hand over your paperwork to get a number and sit where your number indicates. We will then hand out the written exams."

Naruto physically balked.

Shikamaru predictably groaned at the idea but Ino, finally retracting her arms from around Sasuke, yanked him and Chōji along behind her, tossing an adoring farewell back at my teammate. Kiba, not one to be shown up, surged on ahead too with his team following after. Sasuke started forwards as well but he stopped upon noticing neither Naruto and I had moved yet, although for widely differing reasons.

"Naruto, I need you to make a clone and transform into a hairclip or something," I told him in a hushed voice. I didn't really want to be doing this. I wanted to throw him into the deep end of the written exam and pray he failed.

But Konoha would be expecting me to be more prepared for the exam than that, wouldn't they? I couldn't fail in ways I shouldn't. If I failed it had to be because of a mistake I had genuinely made without realizing or due to circumstances outside of my control.

The blonde blinked a couple of times, Sasuke eyeing me with curiosity as to why I was ordering such a thing. But Naruto complied a few seconds later anyway, plain hair clip popping out of the air. Catching it, I attached it to my top, the blonde still staring at me in confusion whilst the Uchiha seemed to finally realise what I was doing. Sasuke smirked a little and I guessed he was walking down the same line of thought I was.

We were ninja. Deception and cheating were in our blood.

* * *

"There are a few rules to this exam. I'll even be so generous as to write them down for you idiots but I am not so kind as to humour questions if you are too _stupid_ to understand these _simple_ instructions."

I was near the middle of the room, around three rows in front of Naruto and two behind Sasuke. All of the rookie nine plus team Gai had ended up being separated, however, not by too much at all. Tenten was sat even on the same row as me, although there were three people separating us, and Lee in the row in front of Sasuke. There were around twenty rows so one would have assumed this wouldn't have happened by chance however real life never really did adhere to expectations.

Luckily, I hadn't found myself near Gaara or any Kusa-nin either. The Kusa-nin were harder to spot within the crowds but I'd managed to catch a glimpse of Gaara with his red hair and he was right at the front of the room. Had I been stationed anywhere near them, I might've just crumbled to pieces then and there. Distance made it easier. Gave me space to grip onto what logic and sanity I had left.

Trying to ignore the thought that those two were in the room with me, I turned my gaze to the front where Ibiki was stood, eyes narrowed into an intimidating glower.

"Rule one: You start off with ten points. For every question you get wrong, a point is deducted."

A subtraction system. It made the situation more stressful than an exam where for every answer you got right you got a point. Really, there was no difference in the end, but the idea of losing points was certainly more distressing than gaining them. The whole exam was supposed to cause stress and panic that would make participants more prone to messing up.

"Rule two: this is a team test. Your combined score in the end is what matters."

Utter bullshit. Really, looking at Ibiki and the rest of the intelligence division right now, did they even look like they were willing to mark all of the papers? Did they think the village had time to do that? Especially when the time taken to mark the papers allowed for post-cheating to take place? I was biased however knowing the true purpose of the test. Perhaps they would've been willing.

"Rule three: Anyone who is caught cheating by the invigilators stationed around the room will have two points deducted from their score for every offence committed. There will be some who are caught five times and they will be asked to leave. Do _not_ be so pathetic to be amongst them as, if you are, you are not worthy of the rank of chūnin."

And there it was. The real kicker.

It was so obvious. I had no doubt there were people who had already caught onto the fact that cheating was a major aspect to this exam. After all, you weren't going to be kicked out on your first offence and Ibiki had made it pretty clear that he was an unforgiving man so this act of 'mercy' could not be anything but intentional.

My eyes darted to the invigilators. There seemed to be one for each row. Most likely they'd only been assigned to watch a single row. It wasn't that I doubted their ability to communicate with one another but it seemed far too messy to have them taking points off people in other rows. At the end of the day, it wasn't as though many people's cheating methods would go unnoticed if at all. So having it be a free for all amongst the invigilators, who would be subjectively deciding whether someone's method of cheating was good enough in their books, would result in huge complications. Everyone would be kicked out. Besides, with the layout of the invigilators on only one side of the room, it would leave far too many blind spots with them all trying to look everywhere. They might have been chūnin but they weren't omniscient. Hence the one per row assignment.

 _Meaning it's only one person you've really got to persuade that you're good enough._ Anyone who figured that much out was going to be less stressed immediately. Thinking all of the invigilators were going to watch out for your attempts at cheating would put immense pressure on you and make you more likely again to mess up.

It was then luck of the draw who was closest to the invigilator of your row. Technically, someone could've tried to cheat at getting the optimal seat when being given a number but I doubted it would've been possible to do without being caught. Getting caught at that would have probably gotten you kicked out without any second chances.

There were rules to the cheating after all.

I gripped my pencil tighter, mind still racing. The analysis of the situation was grounding me. The more information I had at my fingertips the better. That frame of mind had been hammered brutally into me during the Academy (although had existed before then at a much lower level).

What counted as being caught at cheating? If I was right about the one per row rule (which I thought likely) then it wasn't as simple as being caught by five different people. Was it one strike per question copied? One strike for every time the invigilator looked over and saw you still using the method that wasn't good enough? Did the five times rule even really matter and would you instead just be kicked out when the invigilator determined you simply weren't good enough?

 _Subjective._ It was hilarious in a sort of perverse way. Everything a test usually stood for had been twisted so violently in on itself. The fact the whole thing wouldn't matter in the end just heightened the furious irony of it all.

"Finally, those that lose all their points during the test or after having answered no questions correctly will fail alongside their two teammates."

I expected there to be more outrage than there was but everyone who wasn't from Konoha had been specifically chosen to take part in the exams. They were representing their villages and were the best of the best. Therefore, their teams had been prepared in a variety of areas.

Konoha however, who was of course pressured to put forth their best but also had more flexibility to nominate genin who might not be ready as there was little to lose from their failure, hadn't ensured each team was so ready. This had thusly resulted in my team acquiring the academic failure that was Naruto Uzumaki, who was in real danger of dragging us down to disqualification.

"You have one hour. You may begin."

I turned over the exam paper in tandem with everyone else. My eyes skimmed through all the questions fast.

 _Damn it. Only one mathematics question._

I'd wanted quite a few seeing as I was an irregularity of a ninja who could actually do mathematics to a semi-high degree. Sure, everyone was taught basic mechanics in the Academy, but it wasn't really that focused on because normal people didn't do the calculations in the midst of battle to figure out how the angle of the thrown kunai would affect its velocity. Besides, mandatory education for a ninja ended usually around the age of twelve. I'd therefore been hoping that there would be a number of mathematics/physics based questions that I could tackle without even having to consider cheating. But with only one…

The rest of the questions were hard. I had a vague idea of the knowledge required for each one having spent hours upon hours in the small library of books that belonged to my clan but not enough to answer them with any kind of certainty. It wasn't as though I could just stop after answering a single question however. Anticipating a test where I'd need to cheat for Naruto's sake was one thing (especially since the test could've been easy and he still might've needed help) but guessing that it didn't matter how many questions I answered in the end was going a step too far.

This was a bad test for my entire team.

Team ten was pretty much an intelligence gathering team. Team eight a tracking team but also able to double as the other kind too. Team seven however was an assault team through and through.

Combat was our obvious speciality. Even Naruto, with his poor grades in almost everything, scored fairly highly in taijutsu during our Academy days. And, whilst skilled in practically everything, Kakashi was at his core a combat-nin.

That wasn't to say we would be absolutely awful at information gathering, however, in this specific situation, we were at a huge disadvantage. Team Gai, who was also likely to be classified as an assault team, at least had the byakugan on their side. Sasuke didn't have his sharingan yet for crying out loud!

I breathed out slowly, starting to work on the mathematics problem whilst my mind raced with potential methods to use to cheat. None of the jutsus I was proficient in seemed to be helpful here. Chakra threads were probably my best bet but the ways in which they could actually help me cheat were limited too.

 _I could try pulling someone's exam in the row in front of me subtly into view._

My hood was at least going to be helpful if I did that as it was pulled over my head in such a way that seeing where my eyes were directed would be difficult for the invigilator of my row. _I could pull their pencil down too so my view is less obstructed. And at the same time I could use chakra threads to cause a distraction further down the row so the invigilator is busy looking there rather than at me._

I'd have to time it all well but it would be entirely doable. Then it was just a case of choosing the right person to copy off of, although that was easy since all I had to do was pick the one writing the most.

Finishing off the question, I leaned a little back in my seat, meaning to start scanning those in the row in front of me to choose my target when-

I blinked.

It had only been for a moment but I'd seen the shine of something reflecting in the light out of the corner of my eye. Placing my elbows back onto the desk, I leaned my cheek on my hand in a deceptively thoughtful pose, gaze instead flicking upwards to see what had caught my attention. Realization struck me.

 _Oh._

Tenten was on my row. So really I should've expected to see her incredible set up of wires and mirrors around the light in the ceiling.

 _...How the hell did she get that up there?_

I wondered whether the insanity of her managing to actually set that all up without anyone noticing was why she hadn't been marked down for cheating. Because if I was the invigilator I'd be down right gobsmacked even if it was pretty visible. The kunai embedded in the ceiling that was attached to the mirrors indicated she'd thrown it, though I had no idea when she'd done it. Perhaps before the exam had started? If she'd done it before Ibiki had stated cheating wasn't allowed, like I'd done with Naruto's transformed clone, then technically she'd be alright.

Taking such measures preemptively would most likely be viewed as a smart choice and thus waved through after all.

I watched as the wires attached to her pencil moved about, Tenten clearly trying to find the best angle to view her chosen target's paper from. It was then an idea formed in my mind and I played with it for a while, twisting it over and over as I wondered whether it would be worth it or not. It wouldn't gain me any favours from anyone if I did it but, compared to my other plan, it had a far higher chance of success and would be much less fiddly.

Making up my mind, I decided to do what any self respecting ninja would do:

Exploit the hell out of my allies.

The chakra threads shot out from the fingers of my left hand and attached themselves to the wires, gently tugging them so the mirrors started tilting towards me instead. Naturally, Tenten noticed, and the girl shot me a subtle look of confusion and muted alarm. Using my right hand, I signed very carefully in Konoha kunoichi sign language 'I'll owe you'.

The look transformed into a glare but it wasn't as though Tenten could actually stop me without drawing attention to herself. In fact, as she seemed to realise very quickly, assisting me would be more helpful than anything else. The wires went a little lax, allowing me to pull the mirrors more easily as Tenten responded.

 _Fine, but you better not forget that._

I cringed slightly. I didn't want to piss Tenten off too badly when potential allies were far and few between for me, but I needed this. After this stage was over I was definitely going to have to talk to her and hopefully smooth this entire thing out. If I was lucky she wouldn't bear a grudge for long, instead viewing this as camaraderie between fellow Konoha-nin.

Owing her didn't seem too great an idea either though.

Finally getting the mirrors into place, I saw that Tenten had picked a very good target. They'd already finished almost all of the questions and only twenty or so minutes had passed. Writing quickly, I then slipped the clip off of my top after most of the questions were done and held it underneath the desk before snapping it in two. The puff of smoke was small and concealable and I heard a muted intake of breath behind me as the rush of information presumably hit Naruto.

 _That's two members of our team ready._

I flicked my gaze over to Sasuke, a little surprised to see that he was writing. Without his sharingan I'd assumed he'd be in a bit of a pickle, but instead he seemed to be coping just fine without it. It was then I realized he'd struck lucky with the genin beside him very obviously communicating with his team in normal Konoha sign language. They were going to undoubtedly be caught out soon but until then it was just as case of Sasuke reading their hand movements then writing it down for himself.

He wouldn't take the fall because he wasn't the one doing the obvious cheating and so all that mattered was that he got enough questions done before his source of information was kicked out.

I let the chakra thread attached to the wires disappear, clasping my hands together as though I was praying. The exam would be over in less than half an hour. I wasn't sure if the second stage would take place immediately afterwards but I saw no reason for it not to. Of course, I'd been prepared for that equipment-wise, just not emotionally.

If the second exam was canon compliant like the first then it meant we would have to get a scroll off of another team fast. The Forest of Death had a radius of around ten kilometres, which wasn't too bad but it wasn't going to be exactly a straight road there. We'd have to be ridiculously quick in order to make it to the tower before Orochimaru could get to us. Quicker than I think we'd be able to manage during daylight.

Moving at night was dangerous but Orochimaru was more dangerous so I would argue for it if I had to. I could get Naruto onto my side easily for that and Sasuke would concede if I offered a compelling argument. So, if we were lucky, and I meant miracle, once in a lifetime kind of lucky, we would get out without encountering him. As soon as we got into the tower we would be safe.

That said, as long as we managed to get both scrolls fast then we were already in a better position. I was not against opening the scrolls and summoning the chūnin if it meant getting word out that Orochimaru was after us. Sure, a chūnin was nothing compared to the Sannin, but every second we got against him counted.

Ibiki cleared his throat loudly from the front of the room. "The tenth question will now begin. But first, I must explain the additional rules."

 _All canon-compliant,_ I thought as Ibiki explained that one could choose whether to take it or not. Really, it was slightly surprising. I kept expecting it to be changed, for some wacky rule to be introduced suddenly. It was unnerving to have everything go as I expected. I wasn't used to it.

But if anything were to not change it would be this written exam. Ibiki seemed akin to a rock in my eyes. Unmoved by the fluttering of the butterflies wings that had changed the Wave mission. Then again, the Land of Waves had had a direct connection to me due to my father's work there. I doubted Ibiki had any connection to me whatsoever that could have changed this exam.

(And, if any of the filler from the anime was to be true, then Ibiki had done this type of written exam before and so the man was known to be consistent anyway.)

"Those who fail this question will never be able to take the Chūnin Exams again."

It was such a bold-face lie it was kind of hilarious.

Honestly, anyone with half a brain would realize he was lying through his teeth. How could he possibly be allowed to implement such a rule? All the other villages (and possibly Konoha included) would have a bloody fit! Ibiki did not have that kind of power in the goddamn slightest.

But, if you were already stressed out by the exam and had the fear of god already instigated in you by the man, then you might in a fit of sheer insanity believe him.

" _I'm out!"_

I wanted Naruto to believe him.

" _Sorry, I-I can't!"_

I wanted Naruto to put his hand up because he was too scared to fail, not after what had happened on the Wave mission.

" _No more…"_

What did he fear more however: failing himself or disappointing his peers?

I think I knew the answer. I wished I was wrong.

Naruto didn't raise his hand. People kept on bailing around us, trickling out of the room in threes, and Naruto did not raise his hand.

Most of the people leaving were from Konoha. It made sense since we were in the majority and candidates from here were the least prepared. Those that genuinely believed they could make chūnin had nothing to fear of this last question. In a way, it weeded out those that had no chance at all perfectly, leaving behind only those with a real chance and those with an unhealthy amount of confidence (not that they were mutually exclusive in the slightest).

Ibiki scanned the room, expression still hard and unforgiving. "Last chance."

One final participant buckled under the pressure, scampering away with quietly furious teammates. The door thudded shut behind them.

A few moments of silence trickled on by. And then we were passed, with flying colours.

Ibiki shifted roles from our mental torturer to our inspirational speaker. He congratulated us, told us that our leap into the unknown that was the tenth question was a decision to be commended as it was one chūnin were forced to make daily. That simply thinking of something as impossible was wrong and we should instead think merely of the goal we were ordered to achieve. Informed us that dwelling on the fear of embarking on a mission near suicidal was wrong and would solve nothing.

It was kind of ironic. I'd only made the choice to stay in the exam because I was more scared of what would happen if I failed it.

But what did the reasons behind my choices really matter as long as what I ended up doing was in line with what Konoha wanted of me? I might've been running away scared in one direction, however, it was still the same direction as everyone else.

Before I could dwell on that thought any longer, Anko came crashing in, grinning madly at us all after unravelling herself from the tarpaulin she'd wrapped herself in. "No time to celebrate, you brats have the second stage to get to still! I'm Anko Mitarashi, the second stage's exam proctor, and I hope you're all ready for your next dose of hell!"

Ibiki stepped back into view, shooting an exasperated look at the woman who was now scanning the room, raising an eyebrow at the number of people left. I twisted around to see how many were left behind me and found decidedly more than I'd been expecting. Whilst twisted round, I met Naruto's gaze and the blonde's shoulders seemed to slump in a huge relief of stress and other similar things, smiling brightly at me. He shot a thumbs up my way as if to say 'see, I did it'.

"Hmm, sixty-six left, not too bad. You seem to be getting a little rusty though, Ibiki," Anko drawled, placing her hands on her hips and raising an eyebrow at the man. "Don't worry though, I'll more than pick up the slack. Come on you lot, we've got places to be and I ain't waiting for any slowpokes!" She thrusted one hand in the air and started jogging to the back of the room. There were a few moments before anyone moved, then a rush at the realization _oh crap, she really is going to leave us behind_ , everyone piling out of their desks and scampering after them.

I went straight for Tenten seeing as she was closest to me, the girl noticing and pausing a moment for me to reach her with a mildly irritated look. "You _so_ owe me," she declared with a huff.

"Sorry," I apologised, deciding it was probably best to not offer any excuses.

"Yeah, you should be. It wasn't easy getting that thing up there y'know!" She narrowed her eyes at me. "You're just lucky you were quick with it and that I'm meant to be seeming weak to everyone or else I'd be kicking your ass right now."

She was pissed but it wasn't unrepairable. That was one good thing amongst the rush to likely death that lay in the second stage of the exams.

* * *

"Welcome to the forty-fourth training ground, otherwise known as the Forest of Death!" Anko chirped happily as we finally arrived at our destination. I stood with my team, overwhelming anxiety chewing at my insides. Now the numbers had decreased enough, I could spot the team of Kusa-nin and the familiar figure with long hair. There was no turning back now though.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, isn't that that woman you know?" Naruto asked, clearly remembering that time Anko had waved to me before we'd collected our first mission as team seven.

"I wouldn't say I knew her," I replied somewhat vaguely after both he and Sasuke had looked at me expectantly.

"Now then, pass these all around and sign them," Anko ordered, handing out piles of papers to a few people near the front of the crowd, performing a shooing gesture when they didn't do anything for a while.

"What are they?" Some brave genin asked.

Anko shrugged, although she couldn't stop herself from grinning. "Oh, you know, just some death waivers so I don't get blamed for your deaths in this place, no big deal."

Murmurs of shock and terror raced through the crowd. Her flippancy of course had been entirely calculated. Had I not been expecting death this entire time, I might've been utterly horrified too but I had and so this meant nothing at all. "You're joking, right?!" Someone shouted from the back.

The woman pulled out a kunai and started spinning it. "Looks like we have a scaredy cat within our midst. Feel free to go on home if you don't think you can handle this. We will somehow manage to soldier on without you."

No one took her offer up, naturally. We'd just come from Ibiki's exam where he'd all but said promises of death should be no deterrent from a mission.

"She's insane," Naruto whispered, incredibly observant as per usual. Sasuke handed me the pile of forms and I took it, wondering briefly what would happen if I refused to sign it. Probably nothing. The only consent they probably needed for this was from our applications to the exams anyway.

"Now then, let's get onto explaining the exam," Anko opened a scroll of one of the many basic maps of the Forest of Death, holding it up for everyone to see. "There are forty four locked gates-"

 _All approximately ten kilometres from the centre, which is marked by a tower. There is a river that runs directly through the middle and it is inhabited by many wild and dangerous animals and plants. Long story short, there is a reason it's called the Forest of Death aside from the connotations of its official name and you'd live a far happier life if you never had to cross its threshold._

I knew the information off by heart. I even had a basic map tucked inside my weapons pouch that I'd painstakingly copied from one of the books in the Konoha Library. Whilst I might not have prepared entirely for the first exam (on purpose of course as I'd wanted as many opportunities to fail legitimately as possible), I'd done as much research as I could for this one.

"You will all have to survive in here as you compete using your many weapons and jutsu in a no rules-"

 _Scroll battle._

"-game of 'find the exit'."

 _What?_

I stared at Anko, eyes wide as murmurs tossed around the participants. This was _not_ what was supposed to happen. Damn it, why did they have to change this stage of all stages?!

"Settle down!" She yelled. "And before any smartass asks, _no_ , the exit will not be the gates which you will enter the training ground with and you're an idiot for thinking it would be that easy. Each team will enter that soundproofed booth over there-" she jerked her thumb towards a small structure right beside the fence to the arena of the second stage, "-and receive one piece of information about the exit. You pass if you manage to successfully exit the arena within one hundred and twenty hours - five days to anyone mathematically challenged."

Chōji predictably then asked about food in a frantic, concerned voice that Anko was incredibly amused by, retorting that dying from lack of food was the least of anyone's worries, though there was plenty to scavenge from in there.

My head was spinning. This was bad, bad, bad. The scroll battle was terrible but this? This was worse in that it was the unknown. I didn't know how anyone was going to react in this exam. Nothing was certain.

"The rules for disqualification are one, you don't make it to the exit in time, or two, you lose a teammate either due to them being separated from your group or simply separated from the land of the living. We ninja don't raise quitters either so you're in that forest for those whole five days, even if you lose a teammate. Oh and don't try to snoop in on other teams whilst they're receiving their information because that'll get you disqualified too regardless of whether you were successful at it or not. When you're ready, hand in your three forms in return for a piece of information." Anko grinned at us all. "Try not to die if you can help it."

Twisting on her heel, she headed towards the booth, deaf to any shouted questions following behind her.

 _Fuck._ _ **Fuck.**_

I was so screwed.

* * *

 **This took about four rewrites to finish because of the stupid written exam. So sorry if the written exam wasn't that interesting because I tried changing it to something entirely different, hated it, then decided to dip back into the canon for a minute instead. Hopefully it wasn't too terrible with the second exam being different but ugh I dislike it and might one day when I have a good enough idea switch it up.**

 **It's from this stage on though where the fun is really gonna start oh boy so if you didn't like this chapter like me you will probably like the next one**

 **(A fun note is that the method Sakura details before mooching off of Tenten's instead was one of the original ideas I had for how she'd cheat. I then found the idea of her mooching off Tenten so hilarious I changed it)**

 **And listen I swear Shikamaru is a main character. I KNOW he's been taking his time in actually getting involved heavily but I promise you it's going to be great when he is and it'll have been hopefully well worth the wait**

 **Also, I doubt anyone is really gonna be this nit picky but ANYWAY: I'm saying all the invigilators are on one side of the room. A couple of panels in the manga said otherwise but then were contradicted when one ch** **ūnin slammed a participant into the wall on the other side of the room and no invigilators were visible there. So having their positioning around the room be so weighted on one side adds to the unfairness of the exam, which I think fits in perfectly.**

 **Reviewer Question: given a ninja skill set that you believe you'd have/want as a ninja, how would you cheat in the written exam (or just a possible way you might cheat)?**

 **As someone who wouldn't want to be a close range fighter, I'd probably drift more towards genjutsu so would probably do something as simple as setting up a genjutsu that makes me look as though I'm facing forwards when in actual fact I'm looking at the paper next to me.**


	23. Do not fear snakes

**Double update so if you came straight here go back one! :)**

* * *

 _ **Mekura hebi ni ojizu**_

 _ **"The blind do not fear snakes."**_

 _ **Fools rush in where angels fear to tread**_

* * *

The Forest of Death was big. Over three hundred square kilometres _big_.

Finding the exit by mere chance alone within five days was, to put it simply, nigh impossible. You would probably have an easier time winning the lottery than that, and by quite a way.

I bit my lip as we waited in the queue to the soundproofed structure where we would be receiving our pieces of information about the exit. We were near to the front since Sasuke and Naruto had signed their death waivers without a second thought and I'd been swept up in it, unable to do anything else with how utterly horrified I was by this exam.

There were sixty-six participants for this stage. Twenty-two teams. That meant twenty-two different pieces of information floating about that would pinpoint the location of the exit. Most likely, you'd only need three or so pieces of information to actually find it, although I couldn't pinpoint that number until we'd been told our bit and I could see how much detail we were actually being given per team.

The thing about this whole stage which made it so difficult however was that we weren't being given the information in a physical form. With the scroll battles, it was simple. You beat another team in a fight and take their scroll as your prize. Easy. Straightforward. Here, even if you won in a fight, you could never be sure of whether the information you were being given was accurate or not.

Everything was more uncertain.

We were being tested in many different areas here. Our combat prowess. Our ability to locate things. Our survival skills. Our ability to negotiate successfully. A gruelling exam that would certainly separate the genin from the chūnin.

Our best bet was probably to find the rest of the rookie nine or team Gai. We could at the very least swap information with them peacefully. But, by the looks of things, teams were being escorted away immediately by chūnin after getting their information to their starting gates. It made sense - you wouldn't want anyone getting a head start at this. So we'd have to find them within the Forest of Death.

And that was going to be hard.

My chakra sensory capabilities were not great. Naruto and Sasuke had no sensory abilities of their own whatsoever. Finding teams was going to be a hell of a struggle, let alone the specific teams we actually wanted to find.

Team eight could find us easily but I got the feeling they weren't going to even after figuring out we would be good to swap information with. They were a tracking team. If they followed how people were moving then they could find the exit that way.

Team ten didn't have sensory abilities either but this kind of exam was probably their dream come true. It was another test on their intelligence gathering skills, of which they excelled at. They'd probably be one of the first teams to find the exit.

Team Gai had the byakugan and enough overwhelming strength to get all the information they needed on their own. They had no reason to find us at all, especially not Tenten who'd already helped me once. Lee potentially could lend us a helping hand although I severely doubted it. He might have been a friendly acquaintance but unless we were being beaten half to death and he was in the immediate vicinity then he wasn't going to interfere.

So, we were on our own.

 _Damn it._

Reaching the front of the queue, we handed over our forms and entered the soundproofed hut, door shutting behind us. Anko stood at the front of the room, holding a piece of paper in her hand and smiling in a manner that was not friendly in the slightest. "Ooh, so Kakashi's brats managed to make it through the first round? Colour me very _mildly_ impressed." Her smile widened as she flicked the piece of paper around. All three of us stepped forwards to get a better look at it.

 _The exit is within the area of this triangle._

Below the words was a very basic map of the Forest of Death with a triangle drawn on top in red, shearing off quite some area. The tower was included within the triangle and all of the corners hit the edge of the circle that indicated the fence around the training ground.

It would have been useful for Sasuke to have had the sharingan as we could've perfectly memorised the triangle but it was easy enough to remember.

"Time's up," Anko then chirped, taking a lighter to the piece of paper and burning it away fast. "Now have fun out there! Or at least try not to die in some obscure place so we can find your bodies afterwards."

We stumbled back outside, a chūnin I didn't recognise waiting for us there. "You'll be going from gate eighteen," he told us as we moved, breaking out into a jog when we'd gotten a fair distance away from everyone else.

Sasuke fell in beside me, Naruto doing the same. "Do you think it's the tower?" The Uchiha asked in a hushed tone despite the fact no other teams were near us.

"It seems too obvious," I replied, honestly, mind racing. The tower _was_ within the area of the exit but it was such a large landmark that most people would think that. And I severely doubted that it would be so easy.

"Most people would be heading there though," he pointed out rather reasonably.

"So we're gonna fight other teams and take the information off of them that way?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"Probably," I confirmed.

Both Sasuke and Naruto seemed equally pleased by the idea. "I'm gonna kick their asses!" The blonde declared, punching at the air.

 _Not Orochimaru's you aren't._

Heading to the tower didn't seem too bad an idea if everyone was going to concentrate there. I had no doubt Orochimaru would be able to handle all the participants going at him at once but that didn't mean it was a good idea. All of the villages would unite against him if he did and everyone being at each other's throats was way better for him.

Gaara however was likely to be heading to the tower too. And that screamed 'bloodbath' if I'd ever heard it.

Still. It was a start. The beginnings of a plan I could follow through the terror.

It was beginning to get late. We wouldn't have too long before nightfall by the time the exam started. Orochimaru attacking us in daylight was bad enough but in darkness too seemed just overkill.

 _Breathe. Stay calm._

There was quite some time spent waiting after we'd reached the gate at the mounting tension building up inside me was practically painful. I rocked backwards and forwards on my heels and didn't know whether I'd rather the wait to be forever or to just get it over and done with. If the chūnin noticed my anxiety then he didn't care. He seemed more bored if anything, waiting by the locked gate and snapping his head up every now and then in expectation of something being there.

Eventually, there was the sight of something red shooting through the sky like a flare and the gate was unlocked. "You can start now."

 _Well, fuck._

Heart thundering, I followed after my teammates through the gate, almost flinching at the sound of it slamming shut behind us. There was no turning back at all now.

I flicked out my map as we all headed up into the trees. The exit was almost certainly on the ground but we'd be safer up there whilst we at least got our bearings. Sasuke saw it as we landed on a thick branch, blinking in surprise. "Where did you get that?"

"The second stage of the exams is often here," I offered as an excuse, drawing the triangle on the map with my finger. Actually marking it out permanently seemed a bad idea in general because if somebody else found it then they'd know our information immediately. Having no physical proof of it meant we could possibly lie in situations that required it.

We hadn't started off within the area marked out but we were nearby to it, in one of the stretches of land cut out by the triangle. "Naruto, send clones out ahead of us. Transform them into us too," I ordered the blonde.

Naruto nodded furiously, three clones popping into existence around us and two forming hand signs, creating perfect copies of Sasuke and I. "Should we be searching for the exit?" They all asked in unison, a little creepily.

"Focus on just moving towards the tower. Every kilometre or so make more clones. Those ones can focus on searching the ground level." We needed to approach this systematically. Naruto's clones were our biggest asset right now, only ruined by how Naruto was bound to be not too great at actually spotting the exit himself. "If you come across any other teams, do _not_ engage them. Make a clone and pop them if you see any so we know what's going on. Once you get to the tower, hide and make and pop clones if you see any teams go by."

"Roger!" All of the clones plus Naruto saluted before bounding off through the trees.

I was taking charge rather forcibly but it was the only way I felt I could have any control over the situation. Luckily, Naruto wasn't fighting it and Sasuke seemed to find no reason not to follow my plan thus far. "We'll move behind the clones then to the tower," Sasuke stated.

I nodded, pulling my hood further over my head. _Breathe. Breathe. Breathe._

"So we get to scout out teams and then figure out who to attack?" Naruto folded his arms and nodded in sage-like understanding. "Huh. You're actually pretty smart, Sakura-chan."

"...Wow."

"Hey, wait, I didn't mean it like that!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Keep your voice down, idiot."

Naruto glared at him and but followed what he'd said by muttering something insulting back under his breath.

We started moving through the trees, jumping from branch to branch. This was the standard route most Konoha-nin took however we weren't entirely used to it yet so we weren't moving at quite full speed. One day we'd do this without even having to think about it but for now there was always that little bit of apprehension every time you started falling out of the air that you hadn't calculated the jump well enough and the next branch was too far away.

The movement was something to focus on. It was just so hard to focus entirely on it though with the growing thought of Orochimaru being here, within this forest, and no one to fall back onto. Every minute made it harder to not let it encompass all my thoughts and I gritted my teeth, kicking harder off the next branch that came up.

Sasuke was eyeing me intently. He probably had realized something was wrong but he wasn't exactly the best at handling things of the emotional kind and so was reduced to shooting looks of mild concern my way.

I wasn't quite sure how much time had passed before Naruto suddenly stopped moving, almost falling off a tree as a result. "There's a team ahead," he informed us. "From Konoha. Not Kiba or them lot though." Sasuke flicked his gaze to me, mouth pressed into a thin line and eyes narrowed. "The thing is…" Naruto continued, sounding slightly confused. "They're heading right for us?"

 _What?_

That wasn't Orochimaru. Impersonating a genin team from Konoha seemed a step too far as other people were bound to recognise them and see any discrepancies. So who the _hell_ …?

"How far away?" Sasuke asked, hand going to his weapons pouch.

Naruto frowned, thinking. "Ten minutes? They were moving pretty fast."

No one in my memory who came from Konoha aside from the Konoha twelve stood out much in my memory. So if this came to a fight we could take them. But this was weird. A Konoha team targeting another Konoha team? It wasn't impossible however it went so against our village's promotion of caring for our comrades. Besides, anyone who was from Konoha would've heard of the Uchiha clan and Kakashi Hatake. This wasn't the case of someone picking on a team they thought to be easy to take down in a fight.

 _What's going on?_

"Let's get down low." Were this a team from a different village I'd say to get higher and beat them on our own terrain but these were Konoha-nin who were older and had more experience up in the trees.

Sliding down a trunk, I had to jump to another tree to avoid what looked to be a gigantic spider web. My teammates followed and I wondered whether I'd really become the de facto leader in this scenario without Kakashi around. It was what had practically happened during the Wave mission, only deflected by me yelling at Naruto when everyone had looked to me for orders. I kept expecting Sasuke to bite back and take control from me but for some reason he was letting it lie in my hands for now.

 _Well, I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth._

My feet smacked into the ground and I drew a kunai, forcing my breathing to regulate. Whoever was coming after us were genin. Their power level was of no concern. We could take them, easy. It was just the reasoning behind their move that worried me.

A sudden thought then hit me and I could've slapped myself at my own idiocy. "Naruto, what did they look like?" I hissed.

The blonde blinked. "Uh, they were all wearing glasses, I think, then two of them were wearing these cloth mask things? And the one that wasn't wearing the mask had this grey hair like Kakashi-sensei's."

 _Kabuto's team._

 _Shit._

That threw the idea we could handle them out the window. His teammates were most likely be manageable but Kabuto most certainly was _not._ But why would they attack us like this? To test us? No, Kabuto in the canon hadn't ever outright attacked team seven, merely observed them. Besides, he was pretending to be an ordinary genin right now if I wasn't mistaken. If he went full power on us then, unless he sincerely wanted us dead, we'd be able to blow his cover easily.

 _Think. Get a hold of the situation. Don't panic._ _ **Think.**_

"You know them?" Sasuke asked. He was pressed up against the trunk of the tree next to mine, kunai in hand too.

I shook my head, not trusting myself to lie properly if I spoke. Should we run? I wanted to run but that was just a constant desire in the back of my head so I pushed it out of the way, trying desperately to be logical about this.

God, why was it so difficult to _think_ clearly?

 _Less than ten minutes._

It wasn't ten minutes.

The sound of feet hitting against branches approached just after I'd thought that and I gripped my kunai tighter, ready to throw it at any given moment as the noises got closer-

Abruptly, they stopped.

"We know you're there." _Shit._ "Don't worry, we're not here to fight."

 _That_ I was not inclined to believe.

I shared looks with Sasuke and Naruto. If they knew where we were then there was little merit in hiding. But if they were bluffing… "You three down behind those trees. Listen to us."

 _Screw that theory then._

Sasuke was the first to abandon the cover. I could've killed him for it because Naruto followed his lead and that forced me to do the same too. Landing on the tree branch, my eyes snapped to the three Konoha-nin stood before us, the boy easily recognisable as Kabuto leading the bunch. They'd put their hands up in a purposefully unthreatening manner. It did nothing to make me any less threatened by them.

"Why did you target us?" Sasuke demanded to know, voice powerful and hostile.

Kabuto was smiling, cocking his head to the side. "You make it sound like we really are here to attack you."

" _Answer the question_."

"Alright, alright. I suppose you have reason to be suspicious," Kabuto acquiesced. His teammates seemed less laid back, muscles tensed and air around them as hostile as ours. "We pinpointed you guys because you were the closest Konoha team to us, nothing more to it." _Liar._ "We honestly don't want to attack you. We just want to swap information and we'd rather negotiate with a team from our own village, that's all."

"And why should we believe that?!" Naruto sneered, brandishing his kunai threateningly.

Kabuto shrugged easily. "Why shouldn't you? No offence, but as soon as we managed to figure out where you guys were then we could've just laid an ambush for you lot and forced you to tell us the information. Instead we're here offering a trade where we both benefit. _Clearly_ we're the ones being the most trustworthy here."

None of my team including myself lowered our kunai.

"Geez, no sense of trust between fellow villagers, huh?" Kabuto sighed dramatically. "Fine, we'll hand over _our_ information first, how about that?" He dug his hand into his weapons pouch and we all stiffened before he removed a card, Sasuke and Naruto then relaxing slightly. Showing us the blank side, he then presumably filled it with chakra and a map of the Forest of Death appeared with a red triangle imposed over it in a different place to our own and differing slightly in shape. Tossing it over at us, Sasuke caught it out of the air with only two fingers, peering suspiciously at it.

"Don't worry," Kabuto then said, looking directly at me as I was torn between keeping my eyes on him and staring at Sasuke for the complete idiocy he'd displayed on catching something a _potential enemy_ had thrown his way. "It's not going to explode."

I glanced over at it too. We would cut out even more of the area of where the exit was going to be with this one if it was accurate. Most notably however, the tower had been entirely sliced out of the possible location of the exit too. I'd already suspected as much but having it be confirmed (or at least as long as Kabuto was being truthful) made my chest feel tight. This really wasn't going to be easy in the slightest.

"Now, this is a give and take deal here. You show us your information."

Sasuke glanced sideways at me. _Should we?_

In my mind, there was no other option than to do so. I did _not_ want to fight Kabuto, end of. Giving him this information would not hinder us in any way. And lying to Kabuto? _Bad idea._ He had all the power in this situation and I knew it painfully well.

 _Calm. Calm. Calm._

I nodded at him by the barest amount. Sasuke didn't bother asking Naruto for his opinion on the matter and, using his kunai carefully, instead scratched out the triangle on the card before chucking it back. It wasn't as though we were going to want to carry it around after all. Doing that would've been stupidity at its finest when it had come from a stranger of whom none of us trusted in the slightest.

Kabuto caught it, although he made a show of fumbling slightly with the card. Peering down at the triangle Sasuke had made on it, he then smiled again. "That wasn't so hard now, was it?"

Naruto growled under his breath.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm just trying to lighten the mood here a little," he laughed awkwardly. "Listen, before my team and I leave, let me give you some advice," Kabuto's smile dropped, expression becoming serious instead. "If you see a Suna-nin with red hair, a big gourd and the kanji for 'love' on his forehead, you should run the other way immediately. He's called Gaara of the Sand and he's _crazy_ powerful. Also just crazy for that matter too. We would rather get through this stage as painlessly as possible but apparently he'll straight up _kill_ anyone who crosses his path. You newbies don't stand a chance against him."

My teammates bristled at being called newbies but Sasuke seemed to take what he was saying seriously too. I just wanted Kabuto _gone._ He could kill me with ease. Only his power level placed against the insanity that was Orochimaru's was keeping me relatively calm at least externally.

"Well then, here's hoping to both our teams getting through to the next round," Kabuto turned on his heel, his teammates mimicking him and leaping away.

None of us moved for a while, waiting for them to leave our sight. Then, once I was sure they were gone, I breathed out heavily. "We could've taken them," Naruto declared with a scowl.

"Something wasn't right about him," Sasuke muttered quietly, clenching his kunai tight.

The blonde then blinked rapidly. "How did they know where we were?"

"They probably had a sensory-nin," the Uchiha guessed.

Which one had been the sensory-nin? Probably the one that could absorb chakra, I guessed. Was Yoroi his name? It didn't matter now particularly.

 _Did that really just happen? Did we just meet Kabuto?_ _ **Fuck**_ _._

"Sensory-nin?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke shot him a disgusted look. "Are you being serious?"

"Shut up!"

"We need to move," I half-snapped, pinching the bridge of my nose. This wasn't good at all. Now the immediate threat had passed, the realization had crashed painfully into me that Kabuto had most likely been ordered to approach us by Orochimaru. That in turn meant the Sannin was _definitely_ after Sasuke.

I'd hoped against all hope that Orochimaru might not be interested in Sasuke because he hadn't acquired his sharingan yet. Clearly this wasn't the case. Orochimaru wanted a Uchiha and a Uchiha he was going to get, even if it meant waiting a while for their ultimate dōjutsu to be within his grasp.

"If we trust what information they gave us then we know the tower isn't the exit," Sasuke pointed out. I actually leaned towards the information being fairly accurate. The triangle overlapped with our own whilst being incredibly different in shape and, whilst Kabuto was a master spy, I didn't think he'd known what our triangle had looked like before we showed it to him. Of course, he might've been able to somehow (this _was_ Kabuto we were talking about after all), but I just thought it entirely unlikely. Besides, what reason did he have to give us false information? If Orochimaru wanted to gauge Sasuke's skill then he'd want him to advance further through the exams, wouldn't he? Unless putting us at a disadvantage was a test too.

"Well _I_ don't trust them." Naruto squinted, folding his arms. "If you ask me, them coming after us specifically was creepy as hell."

The Uchiha folded his arms too. "We need more information. People will probably still be heading for the tower."

I hated this. I hated the uncertainty, I hated that we had no clear destination, I hated all of this.

If we could just _find the exit..._

I looked upwards. The sky was starting to turn pink, signalling the evening's approach. Did it really matter where we were in the end? Orochimaru would find us either way. God, I despised that thought the most despite it being so true. It made everything so hopeless and caused me to want to roll up into a ball and cry.

"Let's keep going." _No time to falter. No time to hesitate._

My teammates both nodded and I slipped my kunai back into my holster, focusing my chakra at my feet and jumping.

* * *

It was getting dark by the time the tower started coming into view. It couldn't have been past eight in the evening but the trees made it seem darker and later, canopy blocking out the light. Technically, we could've tried moving at the tops of the trees to have visibility for longer but that would leave us vulnerable to attacks from below. No, using the lower branches was a far safer bet.

"Ugh, I'm starting to get hungry," Naruto grumbled, clutching at his stomach with a mournful expression.

"Here." I held out a food pill, my teammate blinking at me in surprise. I wasn't really doing it just for the sake of being nice. When Orochimaru attacked, we all had to be at full power capacity. I needed my teammates in order to get out of this alive.

"Sakura-chan, you're the best!" He cheered, taking it from me and popping it into his mouth.

As he celebrated over the cure to his hunger, I offered one to Sasuke too who, surprisingly, took it. I'd been expecting him to be more 'I don't need your assistance' but he was instead being far more practical about the whole thing.

It was unnerving.

I threw my own into my mouth too, chewing it slowly. Food pills weren't exactly the best tasting form of sustenance but they were substantial all the same. These were Akimichi branded ones and therefore the best of the best at their job. The Akimichi clan was one of the big four clans for a reason, that being, aside from their prowess as ninja, their wealth that had accumulated due to their mastery of food and chakra pills and the like.

Naruto's clones hadn't managed to run into anyone yet, although, given the size of the Forest of Death, it wasn't unsurprising. The closer we got to the tower however the more likely it was we encountered another team. As long as they weren't the sand siblings or the Kusa-nin, I was willing to fight them. Hell, I didn't care if they were those Oto-nin. As soon as we got that third bit of information, we would have the area the exit was within narrowed down enough to find the location on our own.

I would kill them if I had to.

The thought wasn't that difficult to swallow.

We were going to have to start thinking about camping soon however. I'd already resolved to argue against it. Sensible, logical decisions with limited knowledge be damned, no rhyme or reason applied to Orochimaru. The faster we got to the exit, the safer we were by a landslide. Besides, we actually would have an advantage by ignoring common sense. Most teams weren't in the same kind of rush we were. So, by attacking during the first night, we might be able to take a lesser team by complete surprise.

Naruto suddenly flinched and stopped on the next branch he reached, blinking. "What the hell?" He mumbled to himself.

We all came to a halt, Sasuke managing to land on the same branch as him whilst I went one further and had to twist around to look at the blonde. "Did you see a team?" I asked, wondering if I sounded as desperate as I felt.

"No, no I-" Naruto's whole face was twisted with confusion. "One of my clones just disappeared."

"They got destroyed?" A smirk was beginning to grace Sasuke's lips. If they were popped then chances were it was because of another team. Considering Naruto's surprise, the clone hadn't seen it coming, meaning it had been a surprise attack. None of the other clones had popped yet though so the team couldn't be that strong.

Well, that or the clone had done something really dumb and gotten themselves popped that wa-

Naruto's eyes suddenly widened. "Three more of my clones just popped."

 _Another team?_ If that was the case then we had struck gold finally. Although it was a hell of a annoying coincidence to have two show up at once after all this time waiting for just one.

"None of them saw it happen," the blonde said, bewilderment turning into shock. "I don't know-" He took a sharp intake of breath. _"Another two._ "

Oh.

Oh no.

I snatched a kunai out of my holster, gripping it tight. " _Which direction."_ I could barely even grit the words out of my mouth. He didn't answer. " _Naruto!"_

He swallowed thickly. "T-three more just went. Behind us," Naruto gestured wildly in the way we'd come from. "They're moving so _fast_ I can't-"

"Stay calm, idiot!" Sasuke ordered with a hiss, snatching a kunai into his hand too. Naruto copied him but the movement wasn't fluid, weapon slippery in his hands. The Uchiha snapped his gaze to me and his eyes widened.

 _Ohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgodohgod._

 _He's here._

 _He's_ _ **here.**_

" _Sakura_!"

Sasuke's shout ripped me from my mind almost painfully and I had to blink the tears that were forming out of my eyes, the Uchiha staring at me in this twisted mixture of panic and confusion. I couldn't get the words out of my throat at first although I didn't know what I was going to tell him, that I was okay, that I was terrified, that we were going to _die_ -

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw them. A lone figure stood on a branch not some one hundred metres away, very almost missable behind Naruto. They wore a straw hat and had long dark hair, recognisable purple obi tied around their waist. Even from this distance, I could see their lips were curled into a smile.

I wasn't even able to scream. The most I could do was choke out the word as chakra flew to my feet and terror instead of making me freeze made me _move._

" _Run._ "

I thought for a split second that neither Sasuke or Naruto were going to listen to me. Then the Uchiha grabbed a fistful of the blonde's jacket and suddenly we were all moving.

 _ **Run.**_

The air cut at my body as I surged forwards. My heart was pounding so loudly I could hear it. Adrenaline was making me shake and I felt sick, horribly, horribly _sick_. My feet slammed into the next branch and it splintered from having used too much chakra. There was no time to think about it though and I was throwing myself through the air again, hand that wasn't holding the kunai desperately clawing at nothing.

 _Kill._

It crackled through the air. Killing intent so potent, so much deadlier than Zabuza's or Haku's that all my muscles locked up at once. We all failed the next landing. I went too far. Sasuke and Naruto were too short. My chakra expanded, trying desperately to fight off _his_ chakra as it suffocated me. It was just so powerful and I couldn't- I couldn't _breathe_ , I couldn't _think_ , I just _couldn't-_

" _Multi Shadow Clone jutsu!"_

The fall was not soft. It was elbows and knees and jaws and teeth as a hundred bodies exploded into existence beneath us, arms wrapping tight around our fragile forms as we hurtled towards the ground in an attempt to lessen the blow. However, the fall did not kill us.

I was sent rolling across the ground, rocks and roots cutting at my skin. But pain unlocked my muscles and there was no stopping, not for a second. Someone was sent sprawling into my side whilst I scrambled to my feet and I tore them from their spot on the ground, heaving them up as I stumbled into a sprint. There was no time to check where the other was, no time, _no time,_ and I choked when the air hit my lungs.

I'd dropped my kunai in the fall and my hand was slippery now with both blood and sweat, cut running deep through my skin. I barely felt it. All I could feel was the shudder each time my feet hit the ground and _him_ at our backs, horrifying, smiling lips practically brushing past our necks.

My vision was blurring. Becoming tunnelled. Only just in time I saw the ground disappear and the water that raged just beyond but I couldn't stop my legs from powering myself forwards. Hitting the surface of the river _hurt_ and my feet sunk a couple of feet before hands were pulling me out and my chakra stabilised me. The movement made me spin round however and I _saw him_ again, soaring through the trees.

The plan wasn't even coherent but I blurred through the handsigns anyway, sucking in deep as he launched himself at us. The stream of mist was concentrated and it hit him directly in the eyes. Beside me the air then suddenly _burned_ and a huge fireball flew at him, igniting everything in its path. A figure suspended in mid air was suddenly brightly illuminated, long hair whirling in a grotesque dance around a face that was slipping downwards, slowly. I fumbled with the shuriken as hands yanked me violently away again, heels knocking into the bank at the other side of the river as I hurled weaponry at the flames.

There was a sudden shock-wave of pure chakra and Sasuke and I slammed into the dirt, my thrown shuriken flying right back at us and digging into our skin. Choking and spluttering, we both scrambled up again, neither glancing back to see what had happened. "Naruto-" Sasuke began, but he wasn't allowed to finish, head snapping to the side to see _him_ running at us from there.

I ripped a shuriken out of my thigh and threw it as far as I could, arms flying around Sasuke's neck and forming the handsigns faster than I ever had. The substitution sent us falling and tumbling in a painful, bloodied heap, but further away, _just a bit further away_ , and I was on my feet once more because I knew if I stopped I was dead.

A shuriken already slick with blood then flew into my back and I cried out, doubling forwards and faltering. There was a yell right beside me, then a face that had melted slightly in a few areas, and a scream caught in my throat.

"That's enough, little _mouse._ "

Several things happened at once.

A kunai shot towards my throat at a speed I knew I couldn't dodge. I started dodging, knowing there was no point and I was dead. And another kunai stopped _his_ hand mid-stab by slamming right through it, poking out through the other side of _his_ palm.

Sasuke made a guttural roaring sound as he swung his leg right into Orochimaru's face, the man kept in place by the kunai stuck all the way through his hand, and my teammate sent him flying into a nearby tree. I stumbled back slightly but my own balance and a hand grabbing onto my arm stopped me from falling and I was running again. Hysterical laughter rushed behind us, nipping at our heels, and through that and the sound of my painfully fast heartbeat, the heavy noise of Naruto landing beside me almost went unheard.

 _Run. Run._ _ **Run.**_

We burst into a clearing and all three of us nearly fell over one another but Sasuke didn't let it happen. As Naruto crashed into my side, panting hard and blood covering half his face, it was only then I saw that the Uchiha, who was holding us both up, had bright red eyes.

I didn't have long to come to terms with the realization however when I saw that we weren't alone in the clearing. Terror swirled in me at the faces I could see but the fear of what was chasing after us was greater and it squeezed the words out of my throat. " _We'll tell you everything we know about the exit!"_

Temari stared at us with wide eyes, Kankurō gaping in equal shock whilst Gaara regarded us with complete hostility and unwarranted hatred.

We were completely and utterly dead.

* * *

 **:D**

 **Last chapter not so great. This chapter on the other hand I can actually be happy with**

 **Because I think everyone knows what is going to happen next chapter. And oh boy. I am excited.**

 **Sasuke follows Sakura's order to run because his teammates are both freaking out and clearly something is very wrong. Naruto then keeps on running partly because of not running himself during the Wave mission and thinking that a mistake in hindsight. And you all know why Sakura ran lmao**

 **Also I tried to make the 'fight' (mostly running) scene a little more confusing than usual to reflect Sakura's overwhelming terror. Hopefully it worked haha**

 **Reviewer Question: Who do you think would win in a fight, genin Gaara or Kabuto?**

 **My initial thought was Gaara but according to their stats Kabuto should win so I find it difficult to say defintively. Gaara's sand armour would be difficult for most people to bypass in my opinion and Kabuto isn't exactly that fast so I'm going to say Gaara very tentatively haha**


	24. Tiger at front, wolf at back

**Sorry this update took a while! I first had writer's block, then mock exams and finally got KO'd by the flu lmao. For future reference, if I am taking a long time updating then please check out my profile! I usually say so there if something has cropped up and is keeping me from updating. Thanks to the guest that showed some concern though, it was very sweet of you :)**

 **And I know I said I was going to get down to work on reviewer replies but the flu and things kinda messed up all my plans surrounding that SO THIS CHAPTER ONWARDS I'M GONNA BE BETTER YES.**

* * *

 _ **Zenmon no tora, koumon no ookami**_

" _ **Fleeing a tiger at the front gate only to find a wolf at the back."**_

 _ **From one bad situation to another**_

* * *

 _Fear is what drives even the best of us to survive._

That was what Kakashi had told me in the Land of Waves. It had been a single line in amongst harsher ones that took me by the shoulders and shook me violently, demanding that I packaged the terror up into a smaller, manageable box instead of letting it roam free. I'd known it to be true from the start (because we humans felt fear for a reason and to not do so was commonly the mark of a fool) but right now it was truer than ever.

Because, if I hadn't been this utterly terrified of _him_ , I knew I wouldn't have been able to lunge for the lifeline that had come in the form of a monster with fangs that were just that bit blunter and claws just that bit duller.

Logic would've made me hold my tongue. Logic would've made me think about how Gaara was just as able to kill me as Orochimaru was and that this was _stupidity, insanity, you're better off just running as the chances of this working are_ _ **minuscule.**_

But fear, fear that had controlled me, that had made everything a living hell, had now spilt enough fuel for the fire to finally start.

" _We have more than one piece of information._ " The words were squeezed from my mouth in a choked up mess because I still couldn't quite breathe, lungs burning and throat feeling like it was being crushed. Naruto was panting and wheezing by my side and I saw out of the corner of my vision that his eyes, whilst not quite as much as Sasuke's, were red in colour, pupils squeezed into slits. The Uchiha, by comparison, was quiet but by no means calm, nails tearing into the skin of my upper arm and gaze darting back the way we'd come constantly in a terrified frenzy.

 _He's coming._

"We'll give them _all_ to you and you don't have to give us _anything_ in return." The two eldest of the sand siblings were staring at us in sharp confusion and in the back of my mind I noted that they probably weren't used to people trying to bargain with them before Gaara had even done anything. I didn't look at the psychotic redhead. "Fuck- _fuck_ , we'll go back to the fence and jump it, just-"

 _ **He's coming.**_

I was shaking. Or was it Sasuke? No time to dwell on it. Do or die.

 _I will not die._

My gaze met Gaara's in this rush of fear and exhausted anger and, if regret had a taste, it would be that of the coppery blood in my mouth when something flashed in his eyes and the sand started flying towards us.

 **Shit**.

It slid through the air like a striking snake. Temari shouted something I didn't hear whilst Sasuke wrenched me to the side, grip on my arm desperate and painful. But we weren't fast enough. Only Lee would ever be fast enough. So we'd barely even moved before it was _there_ , billowing unnaturally with the awful sound of grains of sand grating against one another.

Then, no more than an inch away from our faces, it suddenly veered to the side at a sharp angle, shooting off towards the trees.

Splintered bark cut through the air as the side of my jaw slammed into Sasuke's shoulder, Naruto quickly following suit and smacking his forehead into my arm. "It's _him_ ," Sasuke whispered hoarsely, red eyes wide and quivering. I bit down hard on my lower lip, not caring how it hurt because this was it.

Don't scream. _He's here._ Don't scream. _**He's here.**_

"Stop hiding in the trees and get out here." It was the first time I'd heard Gaara's voice. Rasping. Harsh. Terrifying.

And it was met with haunting laughter.

"Oh what a _delightfully_ unexpected encounter."

Temari had snapped open her fan now, the confusion that had frozen her released with the correct assumption that this was the arrival of the true threat. Kankurō had moved too, bandaged puppet off his back and one arm raised, fingers outstretched. Gaara's arms were still folded but his sand swirled around him, glare directed into the darkness just outside the clearing.

"If it isn't Gaara of the Desert." The amused, sly voice slunk around the clearing, running circles around us. He was closing in. A snake slowly wrapping itself in coils around its prey and preparing to squeeze the life out of them. "The bloodthirsty freak of nature who lives only to kill."

"I said, _get out here._ " A large tendril of sand suddenly shot out again and there was the sound of wood screaming as the tree fractured on impact. More laughter followed and, whilst surrounded by Naruto, Sasuke and my own choking breaths, I saw Gaara's lips twist into a snarl, eyes narrowing further.

"Is that _really_ the best you can do?" _His_ voice came out almost like a coo, humiliatingly patronizing. "How utterly disappointing **.** "

Temari licked her lips nervously. "Gaara-"

" _Shut up._ " The girl and Kankurō both flinched, their gazes darting between their brother, us and the seemingly various sources of _his_ voice. "I'll kill **anyone** who gets in my way."

Another chuckle that whispered through the air. "Oh, is that so?"

Part of me wanted to laugh hysterically. Most of me wanted to cry. The tension was so thick it was suffocating but there was nowhere to run. Fingers shaking, I tugged a kunai out of my holster, ignoring how the hilt dragged across the deep cut in my palm. _You will live through this, we will live through this, don't think about how you're going to die, think only of how you will all live-_

Sasuke made a noise close to a muted, strangled scream and there _he_ was, gliding through the air with a face that was slipping down his chin and a wild, insane grin. The Uchiha flung shuriken as I yanked him backwards, not having to grab Naruto with how he was already clinging to me. Sand barrelled right past my cheek, grains slicing my skin, and Orochimaru, who had cleanly dodged the shuriken like the uncanny _monster_ he was, could not avoid the large wave storming towards him.

I slammed into the ground at almost the exact time the surge of sand hit him. The shuriken embedded in my back dug deeper and my vision blurred with tears, watching as Orochimaru was thrown violently into a tree. Sasuke was dragging me up a moment later (Naruto was dazed, possibly concussed, I realized in the furthest reaches of my mind) but my gaze didn't leave the _monster_ , looking on as the sand tightened its grip on him. The wood was cracking and Orochimaru's face _bulged_ like one of those toys that, when squeezed, blew up into huge shapes.

" _Sand Burial,"_ Gaara named the technique as he stepped forwards, one hand outstretched and gradually forming a fist.

Orochimaru exploded.

Something dark and wet flew directly towards us. Sasuke caught it out of the air and there was a moment of horror before the realization that the colour was all _wrong_ and it was slipping through his fingers. _Mud. Shit, he's-_

I only managed to catch Orochimaru speeding towards Gaara out of the corner of my eye, the earth torn up in his wake and arm pulled back. His fist then snapped forwards so fast that it was a blur, knuckles burying deep into the sand that had just in time flown in the way. The sound that followed was deafening and the shockwave _ripped_ through the air, wind sending my teammates and I stumbling backwards whilst Kankurō and Temari skidded quite some way across the ground.

Blinking the dirt and sand rapidly out of my eyes, I was greeted by the sight of blood dripping from Orochimaru's fist whilst he cast that unnatural smile with lips that were not his. Gaara stared at him in what I imagined was the closest to shocked he could be. "It seems you might actually have some promise after all," Orochimaru observed in a voice that indicated no care at all for his bleeding hand.

Gaara snapped out of his surprise with a glare even more murderous than the last, snarl twisting his lips further as Orochimaru leapt backwards. The sand chased after him, appendages shooting out in different directions and diving this way and that. Orochimaru flipped in midair to avoid the first, then fell down low, pressing his body flat against the torn up ground before rolling. Three high-speed streams of sand plunged into the earth behind him, each one a hair's breadth closer than the last, then he was pressing his hands down into the ground and flipping out the way of the fourth.

His feet slammed into a tree trunk and the sand followed. "W-what the hell is he?" I think it was Kankurō who spoke but I couldn't tear my eyes away from the scene exploding in front of me. Orochimaru was bending back at an unnatural angle as the sand barely missed him, shooting past his chin. Each miss resulted in another shudder that I could feel even from these ten-fifteen meters away, tree shaking and bark shattering.

Another arm of the sand crashed into the tree. Another dodge, another seemingly near miss. It was like some kind of gruesome, destructive dance, _his_ hair whipping around as he swung to the side away from another tentacle of sand. Then there was one last resounding _crack_ and the tree gave way, hurtling towards the ground. Orochimaru soared towards the next one at the edge of the clearing, wind tugging at the face that parts of now hung a few inches off his chin. Twisting, a barrage of kunai flew from his hands.

A wave of sand rushed back towards Gaara, curling around him. The kunai barely sunk in more than a couple of centimetres and the supposed demon swung his hand, sand complying with his wishes and swooping around so that the weapons were flung right back at Orochimaru. Orochimaru simply landed hands first on the next tree, palms slipping across the bark and sending him swinging around so the trunk itself shielded the rain of metal. Still moving, he reemerged on the other side only for ten or so separate streams of sand to surge at him, wood and billows of dust flying on impact accompanied by the loud boom of the first tree finally hitting the ground.

We all shielded our faces, shockwave pushing us further back once more. "Did he get him?" It was definitely Temari who said that presumably having been forced closer to us by the force of the tree hitting the ground. Her voice was raw with desperation and disbelieving horror. Sasuke gripping tight onto my arm didn't allow me for even a second to hope it was over.

Orochimaru burst back into sight, legs now in the form of an inhuman tail that allowed him to curl around one of the tendrils of sand. He shot along it, spiralling round and round, and Gaara made a noise close to a roar, firing off hand signs in rapid succession. Spikes began to shoot out of the sand, chasing after Orochimaru and then catching up, but he weaved around them in near impossible dodges. "I will _**kill you!**_ " Gaara snarled, raising both hands diagonally in front of him.

A wave then rose above the length of sand Orochimaru was speeding along, forcing him to jump into the air to avoid being crushed. The wave twisted and shot out after him, looping around his grey tail and tightening before swinging his body down _hard_ into the ground. The earth broke on impact, leaving an intricate series of cracks in the small crater with Orochimaru at the centre.

There wasn't even time however for anyone to yet again ask whether it was over, arms raising above Orochimaru's head and forming a single hand sign. His neck extended rapidly and flew towards Gaara, twisting and curling through the air. The fake face had completely torn away now and he opened his mouth wide, too wide, just like a _snake_ , and he moved so fast-

Sand latched onto his neck only just in time, mere inches from Gaara's face. The tendril that had been wrapped around his tail let go and Orochimaru's body snapped back together like he was made of rubber. He swung in mid-air, tail turning back into legs that hung down uselessly as the sand lifted him up higher. Gaara raised his fist.

" _Sand Burial!"_

There was no mud. What flew instead when the sand imploded was dark, dark red, forming a rough circle on the ground around the body that had gone entirely limp. And, when the sand let go, we were treated to the view of what gruesome little was left of the neck, my eyes catching the glimpses of white that had to have been the spine. The body crumpled when it hit the ground, turning in such a way that the head was face down whilst the chest faced upwards.

I think, had I not seen Takasago's body ripped open before so I could see her fragmented ribs or Zabuza's decapitation, I might've thrown up.

We all stared, unmoving, watching an unnaturally twisted body with such fear and anticipation that it must've looked hilarious to an outsider. _He's dead,_ all rationality in me shrieked. _Gaara broke his neck. Ripped apart his neck. No one could survive that, not even a ninja._

The body twitched.

A tiny movement, almost small enough to have been the result of the wind. Then another one. And another. And another. And another.

The torn skin of the neck flapped about and there was the distinct sound of rustling from something, no, several _somethings_ moving. Coming from inside the body. The noise got louder and the shaking got more violent. Then, finally, snakes shot out, heads only visible for the briefest of moments before diving into the other side of the gaping wound. Their bodies squirmed as the broken skin was stitched back together, wriggling about within the flesh.

Temari made this horrified noise when Orochimaru began to rise up as though he was being pulled on by wires. Except his head was still facing the wrong way, towards us, and his smile was visible through the shaking strands of dark hair.

Tears pricked my eyes, not now out of pain but sheer unadulterated terror.

His head spun back around, a loud crack signifying it had clicked into its rightful place. Gaara opened his mouth, eyes far too wide for someone like him, but he was cut off by shuriken flying. The sand darted in the way of the projectiles to protect him, however, Orochimaru had flown through a series of hand signs and suddenly the shuriken multiplied.

 _Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu._

Only the originals were stopped by the sand as the multiplication had been timed perfectly, those left cutting through the air towards the unprotected Gaara. And they hit, edges scratching deeply through skin that cracked and spewed sand instead of bleeding red liquid.

But, as a hit, it had been far too surface level. Far too insignificant to be anything but planned.

Gaara stumbled backwards as the shuriken thudded into the ground and trees, sand curling around him as if to comfort him in the wake of the attack. Judging by how he looked something close to fearful, he probably needed it.

"It is _so_ unfortunate."

I flinched at the sound of _his_ voice. We all did, Gaara included. Orochimaru placed one hand on his hip, form completely relaxed and unthreatened. "I'd love to show you exactly how pitifully weak you are, alas, I still have some use for you. So we can't be having you go berserk just yet."

I'd been wrong. So, so wrong.

Gaara wasn't a monster with blunter fangs and duller claws. Gaara was underneath all those layers of sand a human being. Blood coursed through his veins and, if you hit him in the right place, hit him fast enough, hard enough, he would die like the rest of us. Just like Takasago. Just like Zabuza.

Orochimaru was no human.

 _ **Monster.**_

I could barely breathe when he turned around to face us, not caring he was showing his back to the stunned Gaara. No, scratch barely, I couldn't _._

"And Sasuke Uchiha." Orochimaru's smile did not disappear, gaze fixated on Sasuke's bright red eyes. "What a _disappointment_ to the Uchiha you are." He stepped towards us. "Your dead clansmen must be positively writhing in their graves. No wonder your dear brother Itachi left _you_ alive. Too pathetic to kill, clearly."

Somehow, I managed to grab onto the hem of Sasuke's top, twisting my fingers so tightly into the fabric that he felt it and darted his eyes for the briefest moment towards me. I don't know how I did it. I should've been too terrified to even move. But I knew that if Sasuke reacted to his words that he was dead. Perhaps worse than dead.

Orochimaru stopped walking towards us. Five metres away. Close enough to see that slight twitch of his lips. "Well. That said..." his eyes slid over us, not sparing a moment for either Kankurō or Temari however. "Perhaps the little mice will finally find their _bite_ sometime soon."

 _That's enough, little mouse._

He smiled at us all. The concussed Naruto. The red eyed Sasuke. Me.

Then, with a single hand sign, leaves swirled around Orochimaru. Sand shot towards him, Gaara breaking from his stupor and snarling as his hands reached towards the snake sannin. But it was too late. Orochimaru was gone and Gaara was reaching for nothing at all.

Kankurō was the first to move. Falling to his knees, he covered his mouth, gag reflex kicking in hard. Bile was rising in my throat too, burning and foul. Temari was shaking. Maybe as much as Sasuke and I, maybe more. Gaara was still, hand frozen in mid-air.

 _Gaara._

His gaze latched onto us and I knew he didn't really want to kill us, he wanted to kill Orochimaru, but we were there and he was angry so he was going to do it anyway.

"Gaara, please!" Temari, panicked, shot her arm out in a halting motion, however, her brother paid no heed and we were back at the start again, although with no Orochimaru to jump in to take his attention.

This time, Sasuke didn't bother trying to pull us all to safety and blurred through hand signs instead a fraction of a second before the sand even moved. A stream of fire burst from his lips. The sand and flames impacted entirely too close to us and the heatwave was immense, my skin flushing almost immediately. There was no time to marvel at the fiery display, however, chucking the kunai in my injured hand behind me and substituting with Naruto still holding onto my body.

 _We can't run. What do we do? What do I do?_

 _Think, think, think!_

I crashed with Naruto onto the ground at the edge of the clearing, gaze snapping instantly up to Sasuke, who was trying to defend himself against the sand with his kunai. He wasn't fast enough - _only Lee was, only Lee -_ and the sand was already starting to get its grip on his leg. Sasuke shouted something that might've been for me to take Naruto and run or for the streams of sand to stay away, but I was already moving.

Taking down Gaara was an impossibility, I knew. So I didn't go for him.

The substitution hadn't taken me that far away and it only took me a split second to sprint into range. A few chakra threads flew from my hand and attached themselves to Kankurō's leg. He was already kneeling down and completely distracted by Gaara, yelling too for him to calm down, so he was unable to stop me from yanking back _hard_ on the threads, pulling his leg out from underneath him. His face slammed into the dirt and his bandaged puppet, already half off his back, rolled across the ground.

In my peripheral vision, I saw Sasuke had been caught, but there was no time to fear for him, skidding to a stop beside Kankurō with kunai already drawn. His hand was reaching out and I could see the faint threads of chakra shooting out towards his puppet, however, I was in the position of power here having taken him off guard. My foot slammed into the back of his fingers and he yelled out as I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, kunai flicking round to drive just the tip into his jugular.

"Stop or I'll kill him and you'll fail the exams!"

I slammed my other foot onto Kankurō's other hand before looking up to see the reactions. Sasuke, I realized with numb horror, was slowly being encased in sand and lifted up into the air. He was struggling away as best he could but to no avail. Temari had her fan still open although with clearly no idea of what to do, panicked gaze now flitting between both of her brothers. Gaara hadn't even glanced my way.

The fuel set down by fear heaped upon fear ignited with a **bang** _._

" _Don't think I won't fucking do it!"_ I _screamed_ at Gaara, grip on the kunai firm and steady. Because I'd do it. I was in that moment perfectly willingly to murder Kankurō in cold blood (and it was him, not his puppet posing as him, I knew that for a fact). I was furious, utterly _furious_ at everything. Gaara. Orochimaru. The goddamn world.

It could all just _fuck off._

Gaara's gaze finally slid to me and I snarled at him. "Please, Gaara, stop!" Temari was very close to screaming at her brother and I was almost certain it was because she knew I'd do it. "Kankurō's our brother! _Please!_ "

"Like I ever saw you as my siblings," Gaara rasped, although he wasn't forming a fist quite yet. "I couldn't care less if either of you died."

"How about failing these exams and dishonoring your whole village, Kazekage of a father included?!" I roared back, ignoring how Kankurō was breathing fast beneath me. Sasuke was still struggling, sand enveloping his entire body. "You need all three teammates to pass! So, let my teammate go or I will _kill him!_ "

Temari was raising her fan, although the direction was wrong if she was going to try and hit me. "Let the kid go! For our village if nothing else, just- just let him go!"

Sasuke made a muffled noise of pain and I drove the kunai tip that slightest bit more into Kankurō's neck, the boy hissing through gritted teeth and sending a pleading look towards his brother. _Do not underestimate me and think I wouldn't dare,_ I thought, still glaring Gaara down with viciousness a more sane version of myself would've been horrified by. _Because there was an edge I was teetering on and you have pushed me miles off of it._

Gaara held my gaze. A minute passed. Perhaps more, perhaps less, it was hard to tell when everything hung so precariously in the balance and one single move would lead to a rapid series of deaths. His eyes then darted back towards Sasuke before finally flicking down to Kankurō's form, taking in the image of his desperate brother before letting them slide shut.

"...Fine."

The sand holding Sasuke up dropped down all at once, the Uchiha falling with it and hitting the ground with a loud thud. I couldn't spare more than a glance for my now spluttering, gasping teammate, flexing my fingers around the hilt of the kunai and smothering the feeling of relieving victory.

 _Remember when Lee bettered you because you stalled on thoughts of success. Stay aware. You have won a battle but not the war._

Gaara's eyes opened again, the wild look in his expression was slowly being replaced with more cool, hostile logic. "So, what now?" He asked in that dangerous tone of his, arms folded and stare boring into my skull.

What now indeed. Honestly, I really hadn't thought I'd get this far; to the point where the power was shifting in my favour. Just running was a terrible idea. We'd have to let go of our hostage at one point and the second we did we lost all power over the situation. I didn't trust Gaara to simply be honourable either and let us leave based on the deal of Kankurō's life for Sasuke's.

But I couldn't hang onto Kankurō forever.

I breathed out slowly, faintly aware that Sasuke was edging back towards Naruto and shooting panicked looks my way. A deal had to be made. One where we could walk out of this safely with the knowledge Gaara wasn't going to murder us the second we turned to run. It was so difficult though to think of something foolproof that I could put my trust in when the atmosphere was suffocatingly tense-

 _Ah._

An awful idea. An awful, awful idea.

"Konoha will know if you kill us," I started speaking before I could persuade myself this was too awful an idea to run with (because it was all I had and I knew I wouldn't think up something better). "And they aren't going to just let it go if you kill one of the last Uchihas."

Sasuke sucked in a sharp breath behind me but my gaze did not move from Gaara. "Killing is permitted in this stage," the redhead shot back although him saying that meant he was thinking somewhat rationally. Good and bad. He wasn't going to attack us out of mere bloodthirst anymore but this deal was going to be hard if he thought quicker than I did.

"Like they'll really _care_ what's allowed or not. And, even if they didn't," I continued, spitting the words out like they burned my tongue, "our jōnin-sensei is Kakashi Hatake and he _will_ kill you."

All of the sand siblings reacted to the man's name. It didn't matter much if they hadn't heard of Kakashi himself because Sakumo Hatake was just as if not more famous, especially in Suna with how many of their ninja he'd killed. And if they knew Sakumo then they knew his folly of caring for comrades over the completion of a mission, and if they knew that then they knew Kakashi was cut from that same cloth.

I was however lying. Perhaps if they hadn't been the Kazekage's children then Kakashi would've taken some form of revenge, although even then it was pushing it. But if I was willing to kill here then I was willing to lie through my teeth, lie, lie, lie.

" _So,_ we'll give you the information we have and your brother's life, but you let us _live_." I wasn't about to pretend we could walk out of here for nothing. It was a sweet deal, one Temari would urge her brother to take if nothing else. My sanity was slowly coming back to replace the overwhelming fury and I tried to cling to the anger because everything about this deal rode on my ability to snarl out lies right to Gaara's face.

"...Alright, we'll let you live," Gaara spoke eventually and relief curled up inside me, tightly wound and ready to shoot out. "But you stay with us."

 _What?_

Temari gaped at him and Kankurō made an equally shocked noise. "You'll lie about what information you have otherwise," Gaara declared, entirely wrong because I would lie to save my own life but not _that_ recklessly. "And that man." His eyes narrowed, seeing something that wasn't there and hating it with every fibre of his soul. "He'll come for you again." I couldn't keep the horror out of my gaze at how things were progressing in entirely the wrong way though Gaara paid no heed to it, instead darting his eyes towards the trees. "People are coming. We're moving, now."

Shit. Shitshitshitshitshit.

I didn't have any idea of how to dissuade him from such an insane course of action - how could I? I'd barely scraped together a plan to get away with our lives and now _this?_

Should I continue holding Kankurō hostage? Should I try changing the deal?

I closed my eyes, breathing hard. _You can't run with Kankurō as your hostage. You can't leave him and run either because Gaara wants us with him and will go after you. Either you comply at least for now or make things worse._

Damn it. _Damn_ it.

Decision made - although with the bitter taste of blood and reappearing fear in my mouth - I hesitantly removed my feet from Kankurō's hands, kunai flicking away from his neck as I moved backwards. As soon as he was free, Kankurō scrambled away, grabbing onto his bandaged puppet before getting to his feet. Temari looked like she wanted to help but didn't, biting down on her lip instead.

Suddenly Sasuke was beside me, Naruto's arm slung over his shoulders and the blonde himself most certainly unconscious now. The Uchiha was staring at me with a mix of emotions I couldn't read but they were overcast by his bright red eyes. He looked like he wanted to say something too although was cut off by a hostile hiss. "I said, _now._ "

Ignoring the tight feeling in my chest, I began to follow after Gaara.

* * *

"-and I _knew_ this would happen!"

Shikamaru, for the most part, ignored his blonde teammate's frustrated comments as they stepped into the clearing. Chōji was doing little to calm Ino down too, far more invested in munching on the berries they'd managed to scavenge, and so the girl ranted on without cause for stopping. That being said, it wasn't as though Ino was pissed about nothing at all.

They'd spent hours trying to find a suitable team to get information off of and to no avail. Not even after having gotten closer to the tower (of which Shikamaru did not want to enter until absolutely necessary because he knew a death trap when he saw one) had they managed to encounter anyone, although admittedly they had gotten there rather late due to a combined series of faults of the entire team. So, when they'd finally heard the signs of battle coming from not too far away, they (Ino) had immediately jumped at the chance to get some of the information they needed.

But here they were in the empty clearing and not a single person in sight.

 _Although…_

Shikamaru eyed his surroundings with a slight furrowing of his eyebrows. "Something up, Shikamaru?" Chōji asked in between mouthfuls, Ino immediately quieting a little.

The Nara shoved his hands in his pockets, gaze still sweeping over the scene. "Just that it might actually be good we didn't get here in time. Someone really tore this place up." His eyes found a cluster of kunai embedded in a tree of which was missing huge chunks of bark, its neighbour having completely toppled over. Whoever had been fighting here, it had most definitely been a battle on a level way above their own, Shikamaru decided.

"Well, I suppose you're not wrong…" Ino acquiesced, frowning as she took a closer look at the clearing herself. Chōji's munching got quieter too, eyes narrowing and darting left and right in caution.

Shikamaru wandered forwards a little, stopping beside an abandoned kunai on the ground and peering down at it. The hilt was bloodied quite badly though the blade itself was for the most part clean save for some dirt that had probably been acquired post-abandonment. The blood was fresh too, some parts looking as though they were still wet. Nearby, there looked to be small, torn pieces of bandage, then another couple of paces some more droplets of blood and caught within it-

He blinked.

A couple of strands of hair had been caught in the blood. Most likely, considering there were so few, the hair hadn't been pulled out on purpose, instead just getting caught on something by accident (Ino complained enough of her own shedding hair and he himself wasn't exactly exempt from such a fate either). But Shikamaru wasn't staring at the hair because of that.

No, Shikamaru stared at it because he was fairly certain there had only been one exam participant with bright pink hair.

* * *

 **NOTE: If Gaara's decision doesn't quite make sense then DON'T YOU WORRY FRIEND EXPLANATIONS ARE COMING I GOT YOU MY DUDE**

 **I don't think I'll ever be able to beat the fight/run scene of the last chapter in terms of the emotions it evoked but I tried haha. Originally I had it just so it was Orochimaru vs Gaara and then no short scuffle after that but I thought it might be cooler this way**

 **This chapter also had about five different rewrites with vastly different routes that could have been taken (seriously I have a whole document called 'TKAB 24 extras' and has the word count of an entire chapter lmao)**

 **And Shikamaru blips into existence yet again cuz I know you guys are all waiting for him ayyyeee ;)**

* * *

 **Reviewer Question (as suggested by Telepath98): who is worse: Danzō or Orochimaru? Do you think either of them are redeemable?**

 **Oh man that is a difficult question to answer. Honestly? They're both pretty awful. You've got Danzō raising child soldiers that are forced to kill one another and plotting the extermination of an entire clan. You've got Orochimaru carrying out human experimentation, often on children too, and just being downright evil a lot of the time. Both of them have little care for the lives lost for the sake of their own selfish ambitions and they're pretty manipulative bastards too so picking one over the other as the worst is kinda hard. I might've considered Danzō as even slightly redeemable had we seen more actions he'd taken that did a whole lot of good for Konoha (which I assume he must've done at some point because otherwise HIRUZEN WHAT ARE YOU DOING KEEPING HIM AROUND) but based on what we've seen alone, nah, they're both pretty irredeemable in my eyes. Not that I don't think they're interesting as characters but as people they're very far from the good guys :/**

 **P.S. FEEL FREE TO SUGGEST REVIEWER QUESTIONS! I usually try to have it so the question relates even slightly to something that happened in the chapter so if I don't use it right away then it is either because of that or because something very similar has been asked before.**


	25. After victory

**_PLEASE READ FIRST_**

 **GOD I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. I had the worst writers block I've ever had holy fuck and quite honestly I absolutely despise what I've ended up writing. But basically if I didn't publish this then the story would have never progressed so this is literally just me trying to get past this chapter with the full intention of rewriting it as soon as I can. Also it was kinda stressing me out how I hadn't updated this fic in months and with my a-levels coming up in like a week I don't really have the capability to deal with extra stress so yeah. I feel really bad giving you guys something I think is pretty subpar so know that I'm really sorry about this and that the next chapter is going to be a million times better than this mess**

 **And I'm so sorry people I didn't get around to replying to last chapter (I'm very sleep deprived right now so it is kinda a miracle at this point that I'm writing even semi-coherent sentences)**

 **Anyway, a guest also requested that each chapter start with a recap of what happened in the last chapter (which is no trouble at all, don't worry!) so we'll be having that from now on. Sorry if they're a bit long - I'm not used to it yet haha**

 **Recap** **: After some attempted bargaining from Sakura's side with the sand siblings, Orochimaru shows up and proceeds to outclass Gaara entirely. Showing some signs of interest in team 7, Orochimaru then disappears, leaving a furious Gaara in his wake. With Naruto concussed and Sasuke emancipated by Gaara's sand, Sakura threatens Kankurō's life for Sasuke then bargains again, this time successfully with Gaara, who also declares team 7 will stay with his team much to everyone's shock. Team 10 happen across the now empty clearing where the previous events took place, Shikamaru finding strands of pink hair he knows can only belong to one person.**

* * *

 _ **Katte kabuto no o o shimeyo**_

" _ **After victory, tighten your helmet strap."**_

 _ **Keep your guard up until the very end**_

* * *

Tenten stretched languidly after having finished tying up the unconscious Kusa-nin to the tree. It had been a pleasantly easy task to find the three genin - much to Lee's upset since the boy always did love a good challenge. All they'd had to do was move closer to the tower where all the teams were bound to have concentrated and _bam._

You could run but you couldn't hide from the ocular powers of the byakugan.

They'd been even luckier to come across this team from Kusakagure. The two boys had hardly put up much of a good fight and, whilst Tenten would give the girl the fact she'd managed to ruin their surprise attack by sensing their presence, she was also convinced that the redhead had been trained solely as support, thus helpless once Neji had disabled her teammates.

(The bite marks on the girl were cause for minor alarm, alas, she was from a different village. So there wasn't really anything Tenten could do even if she wanted other than feel mild confusion and pity for her.)

The team had given up their information easily enough too following a couple of empty threats, although Tenten hadn't really been expecting much else. The fact that there was next to no penalty for giving out what you knew was bound to make people much more loosely lipped in tough situations. Then again, there were always going to be people who prioritised their own pride above their safety. Her teammates for starters fitted the bill exactly - not that Tenten could say much herself considering she was well aware of her own stubbornness too.

 _But there's no way we're going to get into a situation where we might be forced to show our hand,_ Tenten thought with a streak of confidence earned from being set increasingly impossible missions and goals by Gai. Turning with her hands on her hips, she then huffed a little upon seeing Lee's furrowed eyebrows. "You aren't going to complain about this being too easy again, are you?"

Lee blinked before flashing a smile and waving his hand dismissively. "Oh, no, no." Tenten relaxed. "Thought, it still was rather unchallenging…" She shot him a warning glare. "A-anyway, I was actually wondering how Sakura-san and her team were faring."

Neji, who was currently standing on a branch and scouting out the immediate area with his byakugan, made a scoffing noise that Tenten distinctly ignored.

"She seemed rather nervous before the second stage started," Lee continued, genuine concern tinging his words.

"Oh and you'd notice something like that, wouldn't you?" Tenten raised an eyebrow, biting down a smile when Lee reddened very slightly. "Seriously though, quit worrying about her. Sakura will be absolutely fine. She's _more_ than savvy enough," she then added with a slight grumble, remembering what had happened during the first exam.

Tenten wasn't really angry at the girl (especially now she _owed_ her one), but, considering the effort it took to set up that elaborate system in order to cheat, of course she was going to be a little miffed Sakura had just mooched off her own efforts. What was more annoying was that it had been a smart move on the girl's behalf and Tenten couldn't really fault her for doing it. Although she was never going to hear the end of it if Gai found out about what had happened.

Lee smiled warmly at his teammate. "I suppose you are right. Sakura-san _is_ a competent kunoichi - I know that better than anyone having faced her myself! I should not doubt her abilities like this." He nodded resolutely, raising his clenched fist. "Sakura-san will definitely be fine!"

* * *

The air was suffocatingly tense.

I twisted my kunai over and over in my left hand, heavily aware of everyone around me. To my side was Sasuke, increasingly struggling to cope with Naruto's unconscious body. Behind Temari and Kankurō, the latter continually shooting bitter, hostile glares into the back of my skull. But I focused almost entirely on Gaara ahead of me instead and the weight of my weapon in my palm, breathing out slowly, shakily.

Around fifteen minutes had passed since we'd left the clearing and the smothering blanket of silence that had been thrown over us hadn't lifted once save for the muted grunts of effort from my teammate. The thick tension kept words that could potentially topple the whole perilous balance of the situation stuck in throats - that is, aside from Gaara, although I noted somewhat hysterically in the back of my mind that he didn't strike me as much of a talker, in a tense state of affairs or not.

More than once the instinctive thought to run had blared across my mind. To get as far away from Gaara as I could because I was painfully aware of what he was capable of and that the tightrope he walked between sanity and _fucking homicide_ would snap at the smallest of actions. Because if he wanted us dead then he was fully capable of ignoring all logic, including the deal we'd made, and we were dead, simple as.

 _But we can't run._

I exhaled shakily again, grip tightening on my kunai. Calm. I needed to stay _calm_. Acting irrationally now was the worst thing I could possibly do in this situation.

It was just so difficult to stay calm when my mind was a mess of exhausted anger at the hell we'd been thrown into and familiar fear that was slowly returning now the immediate threat to our lives was gone. The remnants of the adrenaline rush weren't exactly helping either, keeping my nerves stretched to the point of almost breaking.

Another quiet wince made my gaze snap to the side to see Sasuke readjusting Naruto's body on his back. At some point he'd deactivated his sharingan, red eyes bleeding back to the dark colour I was accustomed to. His breathing was somewhat haggard, audible even from across the short distance between us, and I hoped desperately it wasn't because he'd been seriously injured by Gaara's sand.

It was bad enough that Naruto was unconscious ( _although_ , I thought with savageness due to anger knowingly misplaced, _perhaps it is a good thing after all considering how he excels at solidly crashing through sensitive matters without realizing)._ But the idea of both my teammates being out for the count and dealing with the situation entirely alone made me want to put my head in my hands and **scream** -

Gaara abruptly came to a halt. Everyone immediately tensed, my own grip painfully tight around the kunai. "We stop here," he then rasped after an excruciating pause, stepping a couple of paces forwards before jumping directly upwards into the trees. Fifteen metres or so up, he sat down on a branch, one leg hanging off the side and assuming a deceptively casual pose.

We'd stopped in a small clearing, not unlike the one I remembered the canon Sakura had stayed after Orochimaru's attack. All my training shrieked that we needed to keep moving, that we hadn't moved far enough from where the fighting had last taken place and that anyone with basic combat training would catch us easily. But I supposed when you were with someone as powerful as Gaara, you hardly needed to concern yourself with _normal_ protocols.

"Right, now you brats best start talking and fast." Kankurō suddenly walked out from behind Sasuke and me, shooting another burning glare at my way that I ignored. It was so difficult to be intimidated by him when I knew of so many people more powerful. "Who the _hell_ was that?

"Kankurō, _calm down_ ," Temari told her brother, voice strained and filled with this nervous energy.

The boy twisted his body angrily towards her. "This whole damn thing is their fault!" he hissed, gesturing violently towards us. "So the least they can bloody do is tell us what the hell that...that _thing_ was chasing them!" Kankurō snapped his head around again, furious glower demanding we told him what we knew immediately.

"We don't know who they were," Sasuke forced out through gritted teeth, frustration clear as day in his tone. "They just suddenly went for us."

Kankurō scoffed loudly, bitterly. "What, and you just expect me to believe that this random guy you'd never met before would chase you down like that?"

"Maybe because the whole purpose of this exam is for people to get information off other teams?" My teammate shot back, although I don't think even he actually believed what he was suggesting. Kankurō certainly didn't.

"That," the puppeteer began, finger pointing accusingly in the Uchiha's direction. "That was not someone just after your _fucking information_ -"

"Kankurō!" Temari cut off her brother before he could raise his voice any further, wide eyes darting between him and Gaara perched above us all. Kankurō glanced up at the redhead too, face twisting with emotions as he breathed heavily. He then threw his hand back down to his side, gaze snapping to my teammates and me again with fury still dancing in his eyes.

"Fine. _Fine_ ," he spat, though I could hear this hysterical edge to his words. "So we're all just going to be stuck here for the next few days with some unknown _psychopath_ running around and _him_."

I stared at him, something foul slowly rising up my throat. "What do you mean 'a few days'?"

Realization shot across Kankurō's face alongside the hate of which he harbored for me, although Temari stopped him from speaking by firing a look of tired anger at her brother. She then turned her gaze to me, biting her lip as she hesitated. "...The exit only opens after eighty hours have passed and for just a few hours each day," Temari eventually conceded, Kankurō averting his eyes almost guiltily as she did so. "That's what they told us at the start of the exam."

It took a moment for it to sink in.

Eighty hours. Over three days. Over three days stuck with Gaara _._

I breathed in and then out, deeply, loudly, fist so tightly gripping onto my kunai that it was shaking.

 _Of course._

 _Of fucking_ _ **course**_ _._

 _You should've realized this by now, Sakura Haruno, that things don't just get to go right for you. Not even when they've already gone so wrong. Not even when you've survived Gaara, not even when you've survived Orochi-fucking-maru-_

Temari cleared her throat, forcing me to focus my burning eyes back on her and shove the growing thoughts of fury down violently. "Look, we're making good on our side of the deal so you make good on yours now," she ordered in a voice of fake bravado that cracked in poorly concealed desperation. "Give us all the information you have."

Never had I wanted to be so bitter and petty more than in that moment. To refuse with scathing words, to throw all my rage at someone like I had back on the Wave mission just so I could get everything out of my head where my own thoughts had become painfully loud.

It was the sound of Sasuke's labored breathing that ultimately stopped me, forcing my grip on my kunai to gradually loosen.

 _You're one teammate down, almost two. You can't afford to be stupid here. Make the right choices._

 _No one is going to save you if you don't._

For a split second, I scrunched my eyes up tight. Then, slowly, I drew the hand drawn map of the forest from my pouch, ignoring the looks of mild surprise from the two siblings as I began to trace over it with my finger. "The exit is within the area where the triangles overlap." My voice came out slightly scratchy, but I pretended it hadn't, raising my chin to look Temari in the eyes. " _Will that be all?_ "

The way she flinched ever so slightly made it almost worth it.

Kankurō's mouth opened to presumably snarl at me, however, Temari yet again shut him up with a pointed look, regaining her composure as she glanced back at me. "...Yeah, that _will_ be all." Motioning with a smooth jerk of the head to her brother, she then spun on her heel and began to move towards the other side of the clearing. Kankurō hesitated before following after her, casting death glares over his shoulder as he went.

I waited a moment before pocketing the map, shoving it unnecessarily hard into the bottom of my pouch.

 _Deal. With. It._

"Sakura-" Sasuke began in a tone far too panicked for someone like him (although over the course of the last hour I'd been getting increasingly acquainted with it).

"Let's just deal with Naruto's injuries first." _Focus on something. Act calm and logical until you really are._

Sasuke hesitated before lowering Naruto's body fully onto the ground, laying him down gently. I pulled a small canister of water from my pouch, kneeling on the opposite of the blonde to the Uchiha.

Naruto's injuries weren't too severe at all now I could look at them properly. The concussion was almost certainly caused by the gash to his temple but, whilst still looking fairly awful, the Kyuubi had to be doing something seeing as it was perceptibly better than earlier. No, it was just the concussion I was worried about, although there really wasn't much I could do to help with my Academy-level first aid training.

Carefully, I started to clean the blood off that covered one side of Naruto's face. "We need to get out of here," Sasuke spoke up again after a few moments of quiet.

"I _know_ ," I muttered somewhat savagely back, rubbing a little harder at Naruto's face in my frustration. A few hours with Gaara was one thing but three days was something entirely different altogether. There was a reason he was keeping us alive that I couldn't quite grasp, however, he could flip horrifyingly easily to an irrational bloodthirsty murderer. And three days was more than enough for one of us to accidentally trigger that switch.

So we needed to run. But running was a ridiculously impossible idea too. Even if you ignored how strong Gaara was, Naruto was going to be a deadweight until he woke up, and perhaps even beyond then if the concussion had been severe. And then there was Orochimaru (who I so wanted desperately not to think about). Gaara was the only thing dissuading him from attacking us again. The minute we left the 'safety' of the sand user, the snake sannin could catch us with ease.

"...We're too far away from the fence," I eventually said quietly, deciding I probably wasn't going to be able to clean much more of the blood off Naruto's face without aggravating his wound. Leaning back, I finally looked up at Sasuke. "If we were closer then there's a slim chance we could get away but they're going to know this."

Sasuke frowned, staring down at Naruto's body thoughtfully. "...I could try putting a genjutsu on him," he suggested.

"No, I don't think that'll work-"

"It worked before."

I stared at him. " _What_?"

"The sharingan allows its user to cast genjutsu," he explained quickly in a hushed tone as my eyes grew wider in disbelief. "I used one to suggest to him that he should let us live. It might be why he's keeping us with him."

"Wait- _what?_ When did you even-"

"When he had me trapped in his sand." Sasuke glanced away again. "I...I didn't do it on purpose."

 _That is far from the issue here._

My instinct was to say it was impossible. It wasn't often I looked at Sasuke and thought something along the lines of 'he isn't good enough' but he simply _wasn't_ good enough to do that.

 _A genjutsu that suggested he should let us live._

What he was describing to have done sounded like Shisui's Kotoamatsukami: a technique that suggested ideas to its victim and made them perfectly believe it to be a thought of their own through the fabrication of memories. It was a mangekyō sharingan level technique and insanely difficult to use, even for its original user.

Sasuke had _just awakened his sharingan again._

Besides, Gaara was strong. He'd been trained incredibly well and so whatever genjutsu Sasuke managed to cast, he should have noticed and dispelled it immediately before straight up killing the Uchiha for trying it-

Wait.

Wait, no, Gaara shouldn't be that good at noticing and dispelling genjutsu. Specifically, Gaara shouldn't have been good enough at the time Sasuke said he'd cast the genjutsu. He was heavily sleep deprived and had been in an emotionally unstable state after his fight with Orochimaru. He'd been bested and Gaara wasn't supposed to be able to be bested. Beyond that, I'd been yelling at him, threatening his position in the chūnin exams, threatening the failure of the mission given to him by his village, by his father.

A genjutsu's perfect target was someone who was distracted. And I was willing to bet that, even on a good day, Gaara was distracted enough to have genjutsu be his biggest weakness.

So, all Sasuke had to have done was put the idea in Gaara's head to let us live. Nothing as complicated as Shisui's jutsu as false memories or reasoning as to why it was his own thought weren't necessary. And, if Sasuke simply made Gaara hear the words 'let them live', well, Gaara was already used to hearing the words of Shukaku in his head wasn't he? He wouldn't question it too much, would he?

But if he'd just let us go then we would've bested him too alongside Orochimaru and I couldn't see Gaara accepting that, especially with how I'd threatened him. Thus came in the flimsy excuse of using us as bait for Orochimaru and the idea that I'd lie to him about the information we had if he let us go.

Most likely, we were alive because of Sasuke's genjutsu. However, it was for the same reason that we were stuck to him.

I pinched the bridge of my nose hard, eyes scrunching up tightly. This was a _mess._ A lethal tangle of wires that Sasuke had tried to undo only to make potentially ten times worse. God, more than ever I wanted Kakashi to appear with that crinkly-eyed smile and sincere reassurance tossed out in amongst teasing words as he unknotted the wires in a flash.

"...It's too risky right now," I told Sasuke after breathing in deeply (because Kakashi wasn't here and _you just have to deal with it Sakura Haruno, do or die_ ). "You should only do it if we make a run for it."

A wave of exhaustion suddenly hit me and I rubbed one of my eyes, attention returning to Naruto's face. Only a few hours ago I'd been walking up to my two teammates waiting by the swing outside the Academy, Naruto grinning and Sasuke the image of confidence. And there I'd been, teetering on the edge of a nervous breakdown just because Orochimaru and Gaara had been nearby.

 _Now look at us._

Naruto concussed and unconscious. Sasuke a shadow of his former self, unnervingly compliant and constantly looking over his shoulder in fear the _snake_ would return. And me, a pent up wreck of emotions that couldn't be let out because it could very well get us all killed.

* * *

 _Ughhhhh_.

Naruto slid open his eyes groggily, the pain in his head making him wince aloud. _What the hell happened to me? Why do I feel like I got thrown through twenty walls head first then thrown off a cliff?_

The blonde then blinked, sitting up rapidly and staring at his surroundings. He was sat in some kind of liquid that he hoped dearly was water (though the yellow-green light that was shining made him think of a horrifying alternative) and a room with wiring and pipes running around the walls. "Where in hell?" He mumbled under his breath, squinting.

The last thing he remembered was...well, actually, Naruto didn't remember much at all. Something about a forest and chūnins and for some reason a lot of sand? Or was it snakes? Gah, he didn't remember!

" _You're finally up."_

Naruto shot to his feet in a flash, almost falling when his legs dragged in the water. "Who's there?!" He yelled as he turned, reaching round for his weapons pouch only to freeze midway, eyes widening.

There, before him, stood a series of tall metal bars, stretching all the way up to the high ceiling. And beyond what seemed to be the door to a cage, two humongous eyes, shrouded in darkness, peered down at him.

" _It's pathetic_." The loud rumbling voice made Naruto's hairs stand on end and suddenly he saw a set of gigantic claws poking out through the railings, tapping almost in this impatient manner. " _A ninja, almost dying from a measly whack of the head and forcing me to have to save them._ "

The fear that had been creeping up through Naruto's skin halted.

 _Whack of the head?_

The memories hit him hard.

( _Someone is chasing them, Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura is yanking Sasuke behind her as they run and they're both terrified, no, that's not right, why is Sasuke terrified? And he's terrified too but not them, that_ _ **thing**_ _can't have them, he won't let it happen. Running, shadow clones,_ _ **get away from them**_ _, all his shadow clones are gone,_ _ **they're my precious teammates so get the hell away from them**_ _, he's flying through the air, the tree coming up too fast, blood, vision swimming, running,_ _ **I've got to find them again**_ _._ )

Naruto blinked furiously. _Oh._ Oh so that was what had happened-

"Hey, shut up, I'm not pathetic!" The insult having finally registered, Naruto pointed accusingly at the set of eyes, embarrassment beginning to set into his face. "And what do you mean saved me?! Gah, it doesn't matter, just tell me where I am!"

" _Do you seriously not know_?" They sounded severely unimpressed.

Naruto bristled. "Why the hell should I know? Besides, who the heck are you?!"

" _Who am I- really, you are a completely stupid brat._ " Before Naruto could retort back, the set of eyes suddenly got closer and the darkness shrouding them was slowly illuminated by the dim light, revealing orange-red fur and ears and teeth and-

" _Oh? Looks like you've finally got it through your thick skull._ "

Naruto swallowed thickly, lowering his raised finger. _The Kyuubi…_ Then he shook his head violently. "No, I haven't got time to be distracted by you! I've got to go save Sasuke and Sakura-chan!"

The Kyuubi snorted. " _A ninja who almost dies from a hit on the head is hardly in a position to be worrying about others_."

"I already told you to shut up about that!"

Naruto was blatantly ignored. " _That Orochimaru and Ichibi jinchuuriki are on a level far higher than your own. Your 'precious teammates' will certainly lose against them and die."_

He blinked. "Orochimaru? Ichibi? Jinchuuriki? What are you on about?" Naruto demanded to know, fists clenching by his sides. "And my teammates won't die!"

" _The man that was chasing you is Orochimaru. A powerful, despicable ninja."_ There was almost a tone of disgust in his voice. _"And that sand brat definitely has that irritating tanuki sealed inside of him. Your teammates wouldn't even stand a chance against one of them. But,_ " the fox grinned, " _I am more powerful than both of them combined._ "

"So what?" Naruto stepped forwards, frowning.

" _If you use my power, Naruto, you can beat them._ " Their voice had taken on a more 'purring' quality. " _Your teammates need you. You remember how scared they were? Running for their lives?_ " Naruto flinched at the memory. _"If you don't help them then they will die and you'll be left all_ _ **alone**_ _."_

Naruto flinched harder, eyes growing wide."S-shut up! You don't have any idea what you're talking about!"

Deep, rumbling laughter. " _It is you who doesn't know what you're talking about. Only the strong will survive in this world and you know you aren't strong enough. Or at least you aren't by yourself. A ninja taken out of battle by a hit on the head. Do you think you can possibly save them when you're like that?_ "

Naruto's nails dug into his palms, teeth grinding together.

" _Use my power, Naruto. All you have to do is remove that piece of paper and I'll give you all the power you need."_

"And what will happen if I remove that piece of paper?" Naruto scowled, nails beginning to draw blood. "Don't treat me like an _idiot_ you stupid fox! I can read just fine!" He gestured angrily to the piece of paper that read quite plainly 'seal'.

The Kyuubi's eyes narrowed. " _So you would rather let your teammates die then? You humans are always so selfish._ "

He glared at the fox, fists shaking by his sides. "I'm not going to let them die! And I'm _not_ going to let you out either! So why don't you get that through _your_ thick skull!" Naruto then yelped as the claws that had stopped impatiently tapping suddenly lunged towards him, the blonde falling back into the water with a loud splash.

" _Stupid brat_ ," the Kyuubi snarled, withdrawing his claws back behind the railings as the prepubescent boy stared up at him, quivering slightly. " _You're going to regret this."_

Naruto swallowed thickly but refused break eye-contact with the beast all the same. "Like hell I will."

* * *

I awoke to half my face pressed into the dirt and the light of the rising sun blinding me.

Poorly stiflingly a groan of discomfort, I pushed myself slowly up into a sitting position, biting back a wince at how my muscles protested. Not for the first time I was deeply envious of Naruto's quick regenerative capabilities. My wounds weren't quite as bad as they had been in the Land of Waves but I'd at least been able to rest somewhat there in between battles. Here we were forced to keep on going and constantly reopen wounds because the only alternative was to curl up and die.

Which, unsurprisingly, I wasn't exactly keen on doing.

Pushing my hair out of my face, my eyes almost immediately found Sasuke sitting cross-legged on the ground nearby, palming a kunai in his hand and gazing up at Gaara on his perch above us with narrowed eyes. His stare flicked momentarily to me in acknowledgment that I'd woken up before returning to the redhead point of focus. "He doesn't sleep at all," he muttered through gritted teeth.

I tilted my head back to see the redhead as well, left hand twitching towards my kunai holster reflexively. Really, it was no wonder that Gaara was so mentally unstable. Sleep was _important._ Chakra could stave off exhaustion to an extent but even then you needed deep rest at some point to recuperate. Sleep deprivation was a form of torture and Gaara hadn't gotten a good night sleep in, well, _his entire life._

"Anything happen?" I asked quietly, gears of my mind slowly beginning to turn faster and faster as I woke up more. We'd taken turns being lookouts the previous night. Logically, I was painfully aware that it wouldn't matter much whether one of us was conscious or not if Gaara suddenly turned on us, but it made it that tiny bit easier to fall asleep in the presence of the psychotic boy. And I'd take anything I could get at this point.

Sasuke shook his head. I'd pretty much expected as much. Most teams weren't stupid enough to run around in a foreign area in the middle of the night. Unless you could see in the dark, it was just asking to stumble into a man-made or natural trap. And, even if a team had done so, we were a big group. Granted, a big group that was incredibly hostile and ripping apart at the seams that had been sewn so horrifically together, but a big group all the same.

Taking on six people at once was just tempting fate in the most idiotic way possible.

No, it was later in the exam people would get desperate enough to move during nighttime, I decided, rummaging through my pouch for food pills and water.

 _Keep thinking. Stay aware. Follow standard mission protocol even if it hardly means anything here._

Even though I'd just slept for around four hours, I felt unbelievably tired down to my bones.

"...Are you alright?" Sasuke asked after a moment of silence, words tumbling awkwardly out of his mouth in his concern.

"Oh, just _peachy_ ," I muttered, popping a food pill into my mouth before offering him one. He took my sarcasm favorably, giving the barest nod of the head as he took the pill. "...You?"

There was the smallest glimmer of surprise at my question before he twisted the pill around in his fingers, corners of his lips twitching by the barest amount. "Never been better."

I almost choked on my food pill.

A loud gasping intake of breath distracted me from the hysterical thought that of course it was in this horrendous situation where we'd almost all died and still were on course for an imminent demise that Sasuke would decide to _joke_ with me. Snapping my gaze to the side, I saw Naruto sitting up sharpish, breathing laboured and hands clutching at his stomach. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the way Sasuke's shoulders sagged in relief, though his voice held a lot less obvious concern. "Finally up, idiot?"

Naruto turned to face the Uchiha and there was a moment of shared alarm between Sasuke and I when what seemed to be tears began to well up in our teammate's eyes. "You're-" He twisted his head the other way to see me and his whole expression contorted into this quivering, tearful smile, hands coming up to rub furiously at his face. "You're okay. You're both okay _,"_ Naruto whispered in between loud, shaking breaths.

Sasuke had reached a hand forward that hung in mid-air, clearly having no idea how to react to the blonde being on the verge of tears because he and I were _okay_.

"I thought- I thought I'd made a mistake and you guys were- I didn't _know_ -" He then suddenly cut off, the wide-eyed panic returning to his features and scrambling to his feet. "Where is he?!" Naruto demanded in a voice more shrill than usual. As Sasuke opened his mouth to presumably tell the blonde to shut up and calm down, I saw Temari turn at the shouting. "Where's Orochimaru?!"

I snapped my head back around to stare at Naruto in complete and utter disbelief. _What the_ _ **fuck**_ _?_

"Naruto, what are you even on about?" The Uchiha asked, bewildered by our teammate's outburst.

"Orochimaru?" Temari's voice trembled by the exact amount one's voice should when speaking of the monster who walked around in a skin that had barely been human to begin with. We all turned to see her, the girl moving towards us with eyes wide as the realization slowly dawned on her. "You mean the guy chasing you was _him_?"

Head twisting around again, I shot Naruto a look that all but screamed for him to explain what was happening immediately. Because there was just no way he could've figured it out on his own! For god's sake, he hadn't even known who Kakashi was and I was practically certain he'd had no idea any of the sannin had existed in the canon before they'd been all but shoved in his face!

So how the hell did he know that it had been Orochimaru?!

Naruto caught my practically accusatory stare and he took in a sharp breath, expression of panic intensifying across his features as his eyes quickly flickered downwards. I followed his line of sight reflexively to see that his hand had knotted itself into the fabric of his jacket, right over his stomach. I stared at it for few seconds, pieces slowly falling into place.

 _Stomach._

 _Seal._

 _Kyuubi._

 _Oh_.

My head snapped back up, meeting Naruto's gaze almost immediately. And the realization I'd come to had to have been as clear as day because it took only a moment for the alarm in his face to twist sharply into absolute terror.

* * *

 **Ugh I know bad cut off but I'm legitimately so tired and done with this chapter that I gotta just shove this your way and apologize...I know Gaara had barely any time in the fic and ya boy Shikamaru is nowhere to be seen but the next chapter is going to be so much better. It is all planned out and I'll probably have a lot less of a stressful time writing it**

 **SO NOTE ABOUT GAARA AND GENJUTSU: According to his stats, Gaara is meant to be not too bad pertaining to genjutsu HOWEVER, like Sakura stated, I definitely think his state of mind should affect these stats (specifically concerning the genjutsu Sasuke used cuz he should be especially weak to something like that). I think going with this reasoning also offers some kinda interesting argument for the sleep genjutsu Kabuto used NOT HELPING during the Konoha crush and speeding up the transformation? Which is fun.**

 **(I also have zero faith in the stats of characters after having gone through them and discovered that Iruka has the same intelligence rating as Kakuzu and Jiriaya which is. No. I love ya Iruka but. No.)**

 **ALSO: I've made a tumblr account at discoabc dot tumblr dot com specifically for deleted scenes, extras and updates on the progression of the next chapters! Quite a few people were asking me about whether I'd make a fic of scenes I ended up not using so if people would also like me to dump stuff in a fic as well just let me know!**

 **But yeah, for any guests on this site who have ever wanted to ask something (cuz it is a little difficult to respond to you guys here) I would recommend asking stuff there! I can also go into more detail there too and not feel I'm clogging up the fic with A/Ns (like I am here lmao)**

* * *

 **Reviewer Question (Suggested by Maeahru ): Favorite characters not really met? Ex. Sakumo; Dan; Kushina etc**

 **Sakumo Hatake I think is very high up on my list of faves that are minor characters. Despite how little we've seen of him, it is easy to see how complex a character he is (which is kinda impressive now I think about it?). He's a brilliant ninja who tries to do what Naruto does and save his comrades and it literally leads up to him committing suicide, which I personally think is one of the most tragic and powerful things that happens in the entire series.**

 **I also really like Mikoto Uchiha and am kinda annoyed we didn't get scenes of her being an utter badass (like Itachi says she is).**

 **(Keep sending questions in! I'm making a list of them all so unless your question is answered in fic/very similar to something already asked then I'll get to it at some point :) )**


	26. Even monkeys fall

***Slides into your alert notifications* Hey ladies, Naruto**

 **(Also sorry if the quality of this chapter isn't great, I haven't written anything in a while so gotta wipe off the rust and get that writing engine going lmao)**

 **Recap:** **Team Gai have successfully taken down another team with a certain redhead. Meanwhile, Kankuro demands team 7 say who was chasing them. After Sakura pretends to not know they are told how the exit will not open until 80 hours have passed. Sasuke then explains to Sakura how he earlier cast a genjutsu on Gaara. Meanwhile, the concussed Naruto finally meets and talks with the Kyuubi, who, in his attempt to get Naruto to release him, mentions Orochimaru and Shukaku. Naruto wakes up the next morning and blurts out about Orochimaru, which Temari overhears. Sakura quickly comes to the realization Naruto knows Orochimaru because of the Kyuubi - a realization that Naruto notices.**

* * *

 _ **Saru mo ki kara ochiru**_

" _ **Even monkeys fall from trees"**_

 _ **Everyone makes mistakes, no one is perfect**_

* * *

I'd only seen Naruto be truly afraid a few times despite the dangerous situations we'd been thrown into together. It was almost as though fear just couldn't sink it's claws into him fast enough - confusion and anger normally got there first and made him do something (usually stupid) to stop the terror from ever really taking hold.

So it felt startlingly wrong to see his expression contort that way as his fingers twisted themselves tightly into the fabric of his jacket and his eyes focused on me, wide, wide open.

I could feel Sasuke's bewildered gaze flickering between Naruto and I but I was so preoccupied with the shock of my revelation and the unnerving wrongness of Naruto's terror that I paid little heed to it.

 _Why did the Kyuubi tell him about Orochimaru, no, I don't hate you, how does the Kyuubi know about Orochimaru, he thinks I think he's a monster-_

"The guy chasing you." Temari's words cut savagely through my thoughts, her voice straining as she spoke. "Was that _Orochimaru_?"

My eyes darted sideways towards the girl. Her face was twisted in a mixture of growing panic and distrust. She needed an answer to her question, that much was blisteringly clear. But what the hell was I supposed to even tell her? The truth?

 _Shit,_ _Sasuke had said earlier we hadn't known who was chasing us._

I snapped my gaze back to Naruto, mind racing. If I didn't think up an excuse quick then Temari was going to assume we'd been lying and this whole situation with the sand siblings was too precarious for us to be caught lying about someone the magnitude of Orochimaru. But there was no way in hell I could tell her the truth when the truth involved the god damn _Kyuubi!_ Not only was there the likely chance of Temari straight up not believing us, if she did then Gaara, the host to the tailed beast that hated the Kyuubi the most, could flip!

 _Fuck, think, think, think!_

"...It could have been him," I began slowly, carefully, twisting round to face Temari properly. I didn't have to fake the hesitance in my voice. "The jutsu he used. They're the same as what's written in the bingo book."

Naruto shot me a look that poorly concealed his surprise and Sasuke one that hid it better but I kept my gaze directed towards Temari, willing her to buy the lie that wasn't quite a lie. I had Orochimaru's page in the bingo book practically memorised, the small collection of techniques he favoured most burned into my mind. I'd known even at the time that this knowledge was unlikely to give me any sort of edge in a confrontation with him but it was better than going in totally blind.

Temari seemed to hesitate, deliberating on what I'd just told her with the tightening of her jaw. "Why didn't you say anything earlier then?" She demanded.

I dug my fingernails into my palms. "Because I thought I was wrong." God, I'd wished I was wrong. "He's an _S-ranked criminal._ Why the hell would he even be here?" It sounded so ridiculous when I said it aloud. Orochimaru, one of the legendary sannin, taking the time to terrorise some chūnin hopefuls. Judging by Temari's reaction of reluctant acceptance to my flimsy excuse, she seemed to think so too.

Then, suddenly, her reaction changed. The widening of her eyes by a fraction was subtle but the sharp, quiet intake of breath and quick flick of a glance towards Gaara was less so. She'd realized something, I decided, watching as she covered up her previous expression with one of false authority, drawing herself up whilst taking a step back.

"Next time don't neglect to tell us something like that," she ordered, clearly pretending the strain to her voice wasn't there. "And keep your voices down more." Temari then turned and began to walk back towards Kankurō, pace quickening as she went. I stared after her.

 _Why the hell would he even be here_? That was the question that had caused Temari's reaction to change so suddenly. The answer was for Sasuke and then beyond that the invasion. How much did Temari know about the invasion? How much had the sand siblings as a collective been told? Undoubtedly, they were aware it was going to happen and that Oto was going to be involved - I couldn't see any real scenario where they wouldn't have been told at least that much - but beyond that they clearly didn't know much else.

Temari's reaction to Orochimaru pretty much told it all. Horror and shock that he was even there in the first place, then some kind of horrified epiphany. Most likely, I realized, thoughts beginning to pick up speed, she'd just made the connection herself between Orochimaru's statement that he had use for Gaara yet to the invasion. It wasn't hard to link Orochimaru to the sound anyway (rumours had been flying about for a while after all) so that step was an easy one to make after the first connection.

So, if Temari had had to make that deduction herself then most likely none of the siblings had been told of the snake sannin's involvement. Which made a hell of a lot of sense since Orochimaru's name could easily spread like wildfire if uttered carelessly. But for them to discover that he had a part in Suna's scheme to overthrow Konoha in the brutal way they had…

To put it bluntly, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Temari had her doubts about the invasion when it involved a man that showed such disregard for his supposed allies-

 _Wait._

My eyes widened. Doubt. Doubt bred to fear and fear bred to irrationality. Granted, Temari had a better grip on the situation than Kankurō (and Gaara, but for vastly differing reasons), however, just one little push and she'd lose all the hold she had. And irrationality made for tongues far looser than they should be. I'd experienced that first hand multiple times; it was irrational anger that made me blow my cover, made me rant at Sarutobi, made me scream at Gaara.

All I needed were a few choice words. Ones circumstantial enough, ones damning enough if said by the Kazekage's daughter.

 _I can get proof the invasion is going to happen._

I swallowed thickly, head buzzing. If- if I could just get some evidence that the invasion was going to happen then Konoha would be forced to do something, wouldn't they? Orochimaru was one thing but the betrayal of an _entire_ allied village was something completely different.

This was my chance.

It was a dangerous, dangerous game to play, to try to change things in my favour. The tightrope to success was deathly thin and one wrong step would bring my entire plan crashing down. It was a million times better to run and hide than attempt to manipulate things this way.

 _But running hasn't been an option for a long time now._

I breathed out, slowly. A few words. I couldn't just use my own knowledge of the imminent invasion as lying would just lead to inconsistencies which would in turn lead to a trip to T&I. So all I needed to do was coax a few words from Temari and feed them back to Kakashi in a way that would make him believe me.

Doable. Frighteningly, hysterically doable-

" _Sakura_."

I twisted round to see Sasuke staring at me, concern and suspicion furrowing his eyebrows. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Naruto had his arms wrapped around his stomach, biting hard down on his lips and skin pale. Sasuke glanced briefly behind him over at the sand siblings before bringing both his hands in front of him, rapidly forming a series of signs.

" _How long did you know?_ "

It took a moment for me to realise he was referring to Orochimaru. _He knows I've known it was Orochimaru who attacked us for a while._ I unclenched my hands and, after pausing for a few seconds, shook my head.

" _We can't talk about this now."_

I was barely managing to keep up the stream of lies to our tentative allies as it was without lying to my teammates too. Hopefully, Sasuke would forget about this by the time we finished this stage. Although, judging by his reluctant expression, all I'd managed to do was buy myself some time to think an acceptable excuse up. I clenched my jaw. That was going to have to do.

 _And now, to deal with the other one…_

Naruto purposefully didn't meet my gaze when I looked back over at him. Instead, his eyes seemed to dart across the clearing as though he were searching for some sort of escape route. I needed to do something about this and fast. Our survival hinged on our ability to make smart decisions and cope as a team. If I hadn't managed to hold Kankurō hostage we would've died. If Sasuke hadn't used his sharingan we would've died. If Naruto hadn't cushioned our fall in the desperate run from Orochimaru we would've died.

Teamwork was _important._ It wasn't like I hadn't known this with how Kakashi constantly harped about it to us but now it was one of the sole things keeping me alive I understood it at a level I hadn't before. If we couldn't function properly as a unit then we would die, simple as.

"Naruto." He flinched. I nearly winced. I wasn't some kind of eloquent speaker and reassurement even to myself had never worked particularly well so the simple words felt awkward in my mouth. "It's okay."

And it wasn't, I knew, but Naruto's shoulders sagged and his grip on his stomach loosened a little. "Okay," he repeated in a whisper, nodding but still not meeting my gaze. Sasuke shot another look my way, this time in a more demanding fashion, however, I just shook my head again.

 _We can't talk about this now._

Once more, the reluctance was clear as day on his face, although I let my attention flick to Temari instead. The girl had reached Kankurō and her lips were moving rapidly, her brother's expression twisting more and more with disbelief. I let my eyes then move upwards towards Gaara, still lounging on his tree branch, only to spy the clouds just above the canopy darkening.

I set my jaw.

* * *

"Well, would you look at that?"

A boy with a headband proudly boasting a single note raised his eyebrows as he peered through a gap between the throngs of trees. His voice, despite being rich with cruel amusement, held undeniable tones of honest surprise at what he was seeing. "A Konoha and Suna team banding together."

One of his companions, Kin, raised an eyebrow, her arms folded as she too stared out to the clearing. "Now I've really seen it all. Although," she added with a slight snicker, "if they're that pathetic they need to make a truce with their enemies then they're hardly going to be a challenge."

"I wonder whether the main villages will feel particularly mortified when the 'no name' Oto village is the first to complete the second stage," the third, Dosu, wondered aloud smugly, his two teammates grinning at the thought.

"Not particularly since you'll be dead."

The three Oto-nin twisted round fast, hands flying to weapons pouches only to drop when they saw who it was. "O-Orochimaru-sama!"

The man smiled easily at them, pose entirely too casual for someone who had narrowly avoided being skewered with kunai. Zaku barely stopped himself from gaping openly at him. "But, I thought you-"

"Were elsewhere?" Orochimaru grinned. "Come, like I'd miss out on all the _fun._ "

Kin and Zaku both hesitated briefly before their muscles relaxed slightly - not completely, but perceptibly less than before. Dosu however paused longer, his one visible eye narrowing. Then, the boy raised his arm to point at Orochimaru, his other moving to halt his teammate's who had started in alarm at his sudden movement. "You almost had us there," he said slowly, a threat seeping into his words. "But did you really think you could fool an Oto-nin's ears?"

His teammates jerked in surprise, scowls quickly setting themselves on their faces as they shifted back into battle ready positions. Senbon slid into Kin's hands whilst Zaku raised both his arms. "Who the hell are you?!"

'Orochimaru' smile stayed firmly fixed whilst he put his hands up. "You got me. I'm not Orochimaru. But," he continued before any of the Oto-nin could interject, "I bring a message from him."

"You expect us to believe that?" Kin sneered.

"Of course." Kin almost threw her senbon at him then and there. "Why else would I impersonate Orochimaru-sama if I weren't an ally? No one here should know you're here on his orders. Besides, if I imagined to fool you for even a second then I must know Orochimaru-sama pretty well to impersonate him at such a high level."

Zaku growled, equally as frustrated as his female teammate, however, Dosu glared at him, shutting him up. "Say you're telling the truth. Why didn't you just show up without pretending to be Orochimaru?"

'Orochimaru' put one hand on his hip, assuming a pose that looked incredibly patronising. "I'm on an undercover mission and, quite frankly, I can't risk showing myself to some inexperienced rookies who could easily end up blowing my cover."

Both Kin and Zaku tensed with fury but yet again Dosu quieted them with a single look. He then moved his gaze back to the fake Orochimaru, not yet lowering his arm. "...What's the message?"

He received in return a smile that seemed to whisper 'smart lad'. "There's been a change in your mission," he explained. "Orochimaru-sama no longer wishes for you to kill Sasuke Uchiha-"

"What?!" Kin cut in before he could continue."But our entire objective-"

'Orochimaru' narrowed his eyes, smile finally dropping. " _Listen to others when they are speaking._ "

A sudden spark in killing intent forced Kin to slam her mouth shut, eyes flying wide open in unexpected terror. The spark then disappeared as quickly as it had came, smile returning to grace the imposter's lips. "Your mission is no longer to kill Sasuke Uchiha. Instead, Orochimaru-sama has a different task for you in mind…"

* * *

We started moving around fifteen minutes after the whole Orochimaru fiasco had been cleared up (if cleared up meant brushed as far under the carpet as possible). Like yesterday Gaara headed the pack whilst my teammate's and I were sandwiched in the middle of him and his siblings. Unlike yesterday however the thick tension had thinned and Kankurō wasn't shooting me death glares all the time. The threat of Orochimaru seemed to keep him and Temari too occupied to bother with letting us know how little they trusted us.

From what I could tell, we were moving towards the area the exit was in plus slightly towards the fence. Not close enough that my teammates and I could try making a break for it but enough so that the threat of an attack from behind diminished slightly. Of course, with Gaara around the danger of a sneak attack was hardly worth noting unless it was from the likes of Orochimaru, but Temari and Kankurō seemed just as eager to let their brother be their only protection as I was - especially when it was going to be for the next sixty-five or so hours.

My fingers twitched towards my weapons pouch and I tried to think of something else other than Gaara right in front of me. I'd been too tired yesterday to properly consider the implications of the eighty-hour period where everyone was stuck in the forest, however, now I could see exactly how everything I'd previously thought about had gone to hell.

Initially, I'd assumed intelligence specialist teams had gotten an exam that yet again played in their favour. Unlike the scroll battle exam, there'd been no real incentive to engage other teams. You could, in theory, pass without ever facing off another person in a fight. But with that time period in place the type of team with an advantage in this stage shifted entirely.

There were sixty-six people taking part in this exam, so twenty-two teams. Realistically, out of those teams, at the very most three would've been told about the time period. So, the likelihood of it getting out to the majority of teams before the eighty-hours were up was extremely slim.

If you considered the first exam too, it was reasonable to assume there were a number of fairly good intel specialist teams. The best were likely to have figured out the location of the exit within the first day and a half. And, naturally, the minute they figured it out they'd go in search of it, eager to finish the second stage.

But they wouldn't find anything.

The descent to chaos would rapidly get steeper. Self-doubt in their information and capability as teams would be the first step that would, as time went on, quickly devolve into panic when they realized they just couldn't find the exit. As soon as the halfway mark had passed by, desperation would kick in hard.

So what would the panicked intelligence teams under the impression they'd been doing something terribly wrong do?

They'd come to the conclusion they needed more information.

And where was the one place where they could be practically guaranteed to run into another team fast?

The tower.

The tower where all the combat specialist teams - that weren't panicking because they hadn't found enough information yet to see something had gone wrong - were gathered so they could beat the info out of others.

It'd be a bloodbath, simple as that. The intelligence specialist teams would be making sloppy moves in their panic and become easy targets. The combat specialist teams would be having a damn field day with all these people who didn't stand a chance against them. It'd be like sending lambs to the slaughter and entirely tip the scales of this whole stage.

Only the intel specialists that managed to keep entirely calm about the situation or were smart enough to figure it all out would be able to pass. Which made sense when you realized people wanted flashy teams for the spectacle of the third round. If you were one of the 'bland' ones then you had to be the best of the best in your specialization in order to be allowed to pass.

Team ten would pass by virtue of Shikamaru definitely being clever enough to figure out the horrifically cruel trap. Team eight however, whilst not traditionally fitting into the intelligence team role but definitely being likely to act as such in this stage anyway, were in danger of falling victim to it with the hot-headed Kiba and nervous Hinata.

Had we not come across the sand siblings, we'd avoid the trap ourselves through virtue of team seven being a combat team ourselves. I'd like to think I'd figure out the trap were we able to gather the information in time to reach the exit before it opened but, as obvious as it might seem, assuming a certain time threshold had to be passed before the stage could actually be completed was an incredibly risky move. It meant waiting in one place for something that might not even happen and wasting precious time doing so.

Besides, we'd had no indication something like this might happen. At least Ibiki had blatantly mentioned the idea of cheating. Anko had said _nothing_ of the sorts! I could practically hear the woman's cackles and smug tone: _no one spoon feeds you everything in the real world so either suck it up or die brats, your choice._

The feeling of something wet on my face yanked me harshly back to reality and I glanced upwards just in time to see the drops of rain turn into a full on downpour. _As if things weren't bad enough_ , I thought bitterly as I pulled my hood over my head.

Naruto, who had spoken sparsely since my revelation about the Kyuubi, glanced over my way. He hesitated before plastering an exaggerated frown on his face. "That's _unfair_ Sakura-chan," Naruto huffed probably a little louder than he should've in a way that was somehow painfully hopeful.

Sasuke made a scoffing sound, although his relief was palpable. "You should have bought a hood then," he muttered back, quietly.

The blonde's tentative smile was barely concealed under his scowl. "Hey, like _you_ can talk, funnel-neck!"

Sasuke looked genuinely taken aback. " _Funnel-neck-_ "

"Shush," I hushed them both, feeling Kankurō's glare on my back. Sasuke and Naruto both squinted at each other but didn't say anything else.

The overgrowth clearly wasn't thick enough to stop the downpour at all at within minutes, hood or not, we were all soaked through to the bone. "Just _great_ ," I heard Kankurō hiss behind me, a sentiment I couldn't help but share. Hopefully, it would let up soon. It wasn't such a rainfall it obscured vision, however, if it continued like this then it was going to be an issue. Our clothing was going to get weighed down with rain alone - funnel-neck Sasuke especially - which would be a problem in a combat-

I blinked.

 _Chakra._

A drop of chakra had just hit me- _and another and another._

 _The rain._ The rain was imbued with chakra. Not all of it, I was sure, and it certainly hadn't been there when the downpour had started, but now…

Twisting my head around, I met Sasuke's gaze. And I must've looked relatively shaken because his eyes instantly widened. Carefully, I pulled my hood further over my head, fingers positioned in an exact pattern.

 _Enemies._

Sasuke immediately slowed and I matched his pace, Naruto doing the same although in a way that seemed unconscious. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a confused expression fly across Temari's face before she shot me a fierce questioning look. Suddenly, I felt almost back in the clearing, struggling to figure out what to tell her, but for vastly different reasons.

There were enemies nearby and chances were they were watching us right now. However, there was no shared sign language between Konoha and Suna-nin. Kunoichi didn't even have a universal one. There was no chance of her having a clue what I meant even if I tried signing to her using the basic Konoha sign language since it was constantly developing with the intention of outsiders not being able to keep up. Not telling her anything though was a recipe for disaster when she'd realized something was wrong.

"...It's quite raining a lot, _isn't it?_ " I spoke slowly, edging a smile onto my face and willing Temari to understand.

Luckily, the wrongness of me initiating a conversation with her, wearing a smile no less, seemed to be enough for her to get the point. She paused briefly before jerking her head into a nod by the smallest amount, hand moving closer to her fan.

"A lot doesn't even begin to describe it!" Naruto grumbled too loudly again, but he was talking faster than before. It was a nervous tick of his, to speak faster and faster the more tension was laid on him.

" _Shut up_ ," Kankurō muttered scathily and was wholly ignored.

"I mean, it doesn't normally rain this much in Konoha," Naruto continued and I started to tune him out, gaze darting around my surroundings. What was going on? Was this a detection technique? No, that was too high class for anyone in the exams aside from Orochimaru and that wasn't his style at all. Hidden in the rain technique then?

Beside me, I spied Sasuke lower his head slightly, hand moving as if to wipe his eyes. From my angle, I could just about see the dark colour of his eyes suddenly bloom red, two tomoe spinning in one and a single in the other. My fingers itched for a kunai.

 _Careful. Don't let them know you've noticed this._

Naruto was still rambling away as I cast my gaze towards Gaara. He was showing no signs he'd realized we'd stumbled into what was most likely the prelude to an attack, though it was difficult to see any reaction from him other than anger. I then saw I was wrong and that small grains of sand practically imperceptible through the rain were surrounding him. _But is that conscious or the sand moving of its own free will?_

I wanted the cool metal of a weapon in my palm badly.

"-anyway, it shouldn't be rainy season for a while still so it'll clear up soon. Unless it doesn't, which would be real weird-" Naruto was cut off by a loud noise of frustration from Kankurō, everyone aside from Gaara turning at his outburst.

The puppeteer was practically fuming. "Would you just _shut up already_ you _-"_ I didn't hear the rest of what he said because that was when an umbrella suddenly swung towards the boy's head out of nowhere.

Sasuke was the first to react. He hurled kunai a fraction of a second before the rest of us could and just like that an _entire human being_ jumped out of the rain, abandoning their attack on Kankurō to defend themselves. Their umbrella snapped open and the kunai ricocheted off of it, flying into the nearby bushes and trees. My eyes automatically followed one and it was only because of it I caught glimpse of more umbrellas appearing out of thin air.

A memory danced through my mind.

" _Move!"_

I yanked Naruto hard out of the way, diving towards the cover of a nearby tree. We reached it not a moment too soon.

The sound of the senbon needles raining down was almost like gunfire and its effects just as destructive. I pulled Naruto close against me and pressed myself flat against the tree as the metal fired down around us. The sheer speed of the needles sent hefty splinters of bark flying on impact and puddles of water shooting upwards.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled over the din and I twisted my head to the side, squinting to see past all the wood, rain and metal. Temari had found refuge behind a tree just across the way of the senbon needles' warpath and was snapping open her fan. I then spied, not without a measure of relief, Sasuke crouched by a tree diagonally from us. Kankurō was nowhere to be seen however Gaara was all too obvious.

He hadn't moved at all, sand working instead to almost cocoon his body as protection from the hailing metal.

There was barely time to even consider my next move properly before Temari made hers, twisting her entire body around as she swung her fan. " _Wind scythe jutsu!_ "

Metal shrieked against metal as everything bar Gaara and his sand was sent flying backwards, tearing through the air. Sasuke jumped out from behind his tree, flinging handfuls of shuriken with pinpoint precision to two seemingly empty branches. Two more people jumped out of thin air once more, dropping down to the next branch below to dodge the attack as their Ame headbands shone.

Gaara's sand flew at them both but, to my surprise, only one tendril managed to reach it's target, wrapping around one of the Ame-nin's ankles and yanking them off the tree.

" _Baiu!_ "

I snapped my head around to see the first of our attackers racing back through the mud towards us with his hands reaching for the umbrellas on his back. He tossed them into the air just as both Naruto and I started forming hand signs.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto shouted as I substituted with a senbon needle right beside Sasuke. One of my hands grabbed him, the other the nearby tree, and we went swinging behind it, feet sliding across the mud. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Naruto sprinting behind a shield of shadow clones, only just managing to run faster than the rain of senbon needles.

I slammed my back against the tree trunk, the mockery of gunfire ringing in my ears. Sasuke crouched close beside me and I could feel his chakra flickering almost wildly. I clenched my teeth, waiting, gripping the slippery hilt of my kunai tight.

" _Ha!"_

Another powerful gust of wind ripped through the air and I could feel the tree at my back shaking violently as the senbon were repelled yet again. Both Sasuke and I began to move however, before either of us could dart out of cover, the unforgettable sound of Gaara's sand flying through the air shot past us. Craning my neck, I watched as the first Ame-nin dodged the first stream of sand by jumping into the air only for it to curl back in on itself and hit him from behind.

"It's slower," Sasuke muttered with sharingan spinning, although there was no time to properly comprehend what he'd said. Instead my attention was taken by Gaara's sand swinging the Ame-nin hard into the ground and I twisted my head to the other side to see the redhead himself, unmoving in his sand cocoon.

"Shit, _Shigure_!" The last free Ame-nin swore as he dropped from his branch, grabbing an umbrella on his way down and brandishing it. Gaara's gaze darted unhurriedly up to him, sand beginning to rise, only to stop when the redhead suddenly _moved._

The sand that had been cocooning him abruptly pushed outwards to reveal something forming out of the ground beside the boy and the sand that had been rushing to attack the Ame-nin turned back. It slammed into whatever had been forming and on impact exploded into this black liquid that showered everywhere.

Gaara slid to a stop a few feet away, eyes narrowing. "Who's there?" He rasped. As if in response, the black liquid began to slowly congregate back together, bubbling upwards to form limbs. Sasuke then stiffened a moment before the ground started to deform in other places too, more recognisably human shapes starting to emerge.

A few moments later and they were recognisable in even more ways.

My eyes widened at familiar jumpsuits and masks that cloaked the emerging ninja, the straight lines of Ame worn proudly on their foreheads. "Pardon the intrusion," one out of what amounted to at least thirty clones of the same three people spoke aloud in a gleeful, somewhat garbled tone.

The original Ame team, having presumably taken advantage of the distraction to free themselves from Gaara's sand, landed in the middle of the crowd, all three brandishing their umbrellas in a way that should've looked ridiculous. "We didn't need you help," Shigure growled out, glaring at Gaara. Gaara returned the glare tenfold.

"Can't fellow Ame-nin help each other out?" Another of the clones wondered, earning themselves a distrustful glower from a fellow villager.

Temari kissed her teeth loudly, twisting around the tree nearby Sasuke she'd been using as cover. "As if one team wasn't annoying enough," she muttered in a mixture of disbelief and irritation.

I flexed my fingers around my kunai, shifting my feet further apart. There were twenty seconds or so where everything remained still save for the torrent of rain still pouring it down. Watching, waiting for the trigger to move. My eyes scanned the crowd of clone. _Wait._ I could feel the water trickling down my back. _Wait._ Breathing out, slowly.

 _Wait._

Smoke exploded above us.

" _Get them_!" An army of Narutos accompanied by a single puppet suddenly jumped down from the branches above and all hell broke loose.

I ducked underneath a series of shuriken that Sasuke subsequently batted away, sharingan wide open. " _Naruto_ -" he began calling out, but I grabbed him, pulling him hard behind the tree again.

"The users have to be nearby!" I hissed and Sasuke immediately spun, eyes scanning the surroundings fast. A small barrage of senbon flew past the tree towards us only for Temari to push them back with her fan, darting over to us.

"What do you mean the users are nearby?" She demanded, blocking a spray of black liquid that shot towards us.

"The clones are a genjutsu," I snapped back. _A very high class genjutsu._ It was only because I'd been looking for it that I'd noticed it. "They're throwing weapons from nearby."

Temari's eyes widened at the exact moment Sasuke stopped moving."There!" He broke into a sprint and I followed, Temari hesitating for a split second before snapping her fan shut and doing the same.

My feet slid across the mud as I ran, darting between trees at a speed that was making me dangerously close to slamming into them. "Kunai!" Sasuke yelled, heels digging into the ground as he turned sharply to the right. I threw my body weight to the side, kunai narrowly missing my shoulder. Realising just in time that the movement had thrown me in a tree's path, I shoved my chakra to my feet and just kept on running.

I scaled the tree quickly, eyes catching a glimpse of the tell tale white jumpsuits around twenty meters away. A plan whizzed through my mind too quickly for me to see the flaws and I landed squarely on a branch, bending low. Then, using all my strength and chakra, I launched myself from it.

Gravity pulled me down fast. The air clawed at my clothing, already wet and heavy, as my arms desperately tried to stabilise my body. _Idiot,_ my mind shrieked. _Idiot, idiot, idiot!_ Shuriken grazed the bottom of my sandals as I flew clean over the Ame-nin's heads, mind's shrieks getting louder. The branch was coming up rapidly and I straightened my legs, ready to land, and-

My feet made contact.

But only briefly.

The rain had made the branch slick and slippery and I slid right off it. My heart flew into my mouth, _**idiot**_ , and I reacted before I was even aware of it, body twisting and hands reaching out for the branch. Chakra from my feet flew into my fingers, kunai falling, and I gripped on tight, legs swinging back around at breakneck speed.

Had the Ame-nin not ducked just barely in time, I would've probably taken one of their heads clean off.

My feet slid when they hit the mud, body falling backwards into the ground. I pressed my hands fast into the ground to my left and spun, using the momentum to turn it into a low kick. This time only two of them dodged and I sent one of them sprawling face first into the mud. Pushing hard off the ground, I yanked a kunai out before I landed back on my feet. I was then forced to fall into an awkward backflip, water-clones shooting out of the ground in an attempt to skewer me.

A gust of wind shot right past my side, water-clones sent flying into a tree and exploding. I rightened to see the Ame-nin retreating and fast, tossing shuriken as they went. Sasuke slid in between the hurled weapons and me, hitting them away with ingrained precision. He then launched his kunai far through the air, twisting to face me before it landed a little beyond the retreating ninja. Already seeing what he wanted, I put one arm around his neck, fingers deftly moving through the seals with practiced ease.

We both landed right in the Ame-nin's path, the trio's backs to us. Pulling my arm back, chakra concentrated just over my knuckles, I snapped my fist forwards. It connected with one of their backs and connected _hard._

I could practically hear the cracking of their ribs as the boy was sent careering forwards - right towards the running Temari. Fan closed and brandished, she swung, metal smacking into their side and body straight into a tree.

Distracted momentarily with the sight, I narrowly avoided a punch to the head as Sasuke neatly decapitated three water clones. Ducking low, I tried stabbing downwards into my opponent's foot but the simply jumped, kicking at me instead. I leant back fast, free right hand flying up to catch their foot. It was as a strong kick, strong enough to reopen the wound across my palm.

 _But not as strong as Lee's._

Grabbing onto their foot with both hands, I kept on moving backwards into the ground and flung them hard over my head. The sight of water clones suddenly rushing at me caused curses to get stuck in my throat and I pushed myself off the ground, chakra shooting to by legs again once I was on my feet and jumping back.

The landing came much quicker than I expected. It was also vastly less muddy than it should have been. I had approximately one second to realize I'd landed on Temari's _fucking fan_ before the girl unceremoniously launched me into the air in parody of an earlier moment I hadn't wanted to repeat. My body sailed over one of the Ame-nin and I slammed my fingers together quickly, turning and falling upon impact with the slippery ground. Their double ended kunai barrelled down towards me and I sucked in deeply, shooting a compressed stream of mist right into their eyes.

They yelled out, stumbling backwards and rubbing at their eyelids furiously. The sudden rise in heat made us both turn and I scrambled backwards through the mud as a gigantic ball of fire came hurtling our way, steaming through a group of water clones. Temari then swung her fan and the flames began to _roar_ , eating everything in their path including the blinded Ame-nin. Garbled shrieks left their rebreather as their body was thrown like a rag doll across the mud, landing in a heap that steamed when the rain hit it.

Tearing my eyes away, I stumbled back to my feet, running back towards the enemy I'd flung over my head into the ground. They were slowly getting to their feet when I reached them but I grabbed a fistful of their jumpsuit and swung them around, slamming them into the ground. Violent coughs ripped through their chest as I pinned them there with my knee on their stomach. Hand diving into my weapons pouch, I brought out my map of the Forest of Death, ignoring how the rain and mud threatened to strain it.

" _Where's the exit?!_ " I snarled in their face, grip on their jumpsuit so tight it was beginning to be painful.

They barely hesitated in pointing it out.

Pocketing the map hurriedly, I then lifted their body up slightly before slamming them back into the ground. It knocked them clean out.

I waited a moment to check they weren't faking it, only then loosening my grip on them. A few seconds passed where I didn't move, breathing hard ( _but not as hard as I was used to_ ). For the first time I could properly feel the mud caking my body and my hair plastered uncomfortably against my skin. At some point my hood had fallen off too and I nearly grabbed at it to pull it back on but realized all that would accomplish was to drag more mud across my hair.

Instead I stood up slowly and turned to face Sasuke and Temari. They were both breathing as hard as I was. Sasuke was covered in mud, the same as me. Temari less so. We all just stood there, staring at each other, words refusing to push past our lips.

The silence was broken with a scream.

" _Naruto_ ," Sasuke breathed, eyes I hadn't noticed turn dark again fly wide open. He broke into a sprint even faster than the one used to chase the Ame-nin and I raced after him. Temari shouted something after us that I couldn't hear, struggling to keep up with Sasuke.

I arrived back where we'd left the others a few seconds after my teammate, lungs burning and mind swarming with snippets of plans to either get away or bargain our way out of death again. The sight of watered down blood made me slide to a stop and I pressed my hand against a tree, heart thundering. Sasuke was crouched down on the senbon and mud covered ground, one arm reaching out for our blonde teammate who was-

 _Alive._

More than alive.

And glaring at Gaara with a snarl.

 _Shit._

* * *

 **I feel like this chapter is kinda all over the place cuz I haven't written properly in a while but HEY COOL FIGHT SCENE**

 **Anyway, sorry this update took so long! My exams finally finished just under two weeks ago and I really needed to do nothing for a while to recover haha. Remember to always check my profile or TKAB blog if updates are being slow because I post reasons for slow updates there :)**

 **And also sorry for missed reviewer replies - the time during my exams is kinda hazy now with all the revision and lack of sleep so I have no idea who I did and didn't reply to OTL**

 **But yeah, better chapter for next time cuz we've finally got a lot of stuff moving now ;)**

 **(Also, Sakura screaming idiot internally at herself after having done something potentially stupid? Relatable.)**

 **Reviewer Question: If you had to trust someone within the Naruto-verse with the information that you had knowledge of future and past events that you really shouldn't know about, who would you choose? (suggested by FilleDePluie)**

 **Maybe Itachi? Other people I feel wouldn't actually act on the information I told them but he definitely would use it since it would concern both Konoha and his brother. It would definitely be somewhat of a gamble though considering how he can be somewhat merciless when required but I think it would be a risk worth taking. That is if he had joined Akatsuki already - if he hadn't then it would be a pretty risk free venture.**

 **I just feel telling people like Minato, Jiraiya and Tsunade for example wouldn't help much since they're in fairly compromised positions to really use the information I gave them effectively regardless of how much less risky it would be to go to them instead.**


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